A new 2026 survey from Parallels reveals IT leaders are abandoning cloud-only strategies due to vendor lock-in concerns. The report shows 94% of organizations worry about being trapped by a single vendor, with nearly half citing uncertain product roadmaps and future support fears as key drivers. This marks a significant shift from the previous decade's cloud-first approach.

Cost volatility and data sovereignty are pushing IT departments toward hybrid models, with 49% considering a return to on-premises or hybrid solutions. The survey also highlights AI fatigue, as only 29% of respondents are willing to pay extra for AI features. Instead, organizations want practical automation for issue detection, application patching, and reducing administrative overhead.

Security breaches compound these concerns, with nearly half of surveyed organizations experiencing an incident in the past year. For Mac administrators, VDI fatigue adds another layer of complexity, as 85% spend 1-10 hours weekly managing these environments. The industry is clearly moving toward balanced, flexible architectures that avoid dependency on single vendors while maintaining the benefits of cloud computing.