The State of Application Services 2020

Many organizations are starting to realize the benefits of increased scale and velocity of application deployment in their businesses, according to the 2020 State of Application Services report from F5 Networks.


This value, however, can bring significant complexity as organizations maintain legacy infrastructure while increasingly relying on multiple public and private clouds, implement modern application architectures, and face an evolving and sophisticated threat landscape.

At the same time, organizations are adopting more application services designed to accelerate deployment in public cloud and container-native environments, like service mesh and ingress control. Survey data indicates this trend will accelerate as organizations become proficient in harnessing the data their application ecosystem delivers — creating advanced analytics capabilities and better business outcomes.

"Applications are not just the most valuable asset in the modern enterprise, they are the vehicle organizations rely on to deliver differentiated digital experiences to their customers," said Kara Sprague, EVP and GM, BIG-IP at F5. "This year’s report explores the ways application services are an increasingly critical component at each stage of the application lifecycle. From the code that makes up the business logic of an application to the experience on an end user’s device, application services ensure businesses can build, deploy, and manage applications across environments securely and at scale."

The report — which reflects input from nearly 2,600 respondents globally across a range of industries, company sizes, and roles — shows that as companies manage legacy, multi-cloud, hybrid-cloud, and modern architectures to deliver applications, their requirements for app services are also evolving. To address limited skill sets and integration challenges, organizations are choosing open ecosystems that offer standardization.

The report examines 5 key findings:

Digital Transformation

80% of organizations are executing on digital transformation — with increasing emphasis on accelerating speed to market.

As organizations progress through digital transformation initiatives, IT and business process optimization initiatives mature. Many organizations have moved beyond the basics of business process automation and are now scaling their digital footprint with cloud, containers, and orchestration. This in turn is driving the creation of new ecosystems and massive growth in API call volumes.

Multi-Cloud

87% of organizations are multi-cloud and most still struggle with security.

Organizations are leveraging the public cloud to participate in industry ecosystems, take advantage of cloud-native architectures, and deliver applications at the speed of the business. However, organizations are much less confident in their ability to withstand an application-layer attack in the public cloud versus an on-premises data center. This discrepancy illustrates a growing need for easy-to-deploy solutions that can ensure consistent security across multiple environments.

Automating the Network

73% of organizations are automating the network to boost efficiency.

Unsurprisingly, given the primary drivers of digital transformation — IT and business process optimization — the majority of organizations are automating the network. Despite challenges, organizations are gaining proficiency and moving toward continuous deployment with more consistent automation across all key pipeline components: app infrastructure, app services, network, and security.

Cloud Native

69% of organizations are using 10 or more application services.

As newer cloud-native application architectures mature and scale, a higher percentage of organizations are deploying related app services such as ingress control and service discovery both on premises and in the public cloud. A modern application landscape requires modern app services to support scale, security, and availability requirements.

IT Ops and DevOps

63% of organizations still place primary responsibility for app services with IT operations, yet more than half of those surveyed are also moving to DevOps-inspired teams.

Operations and infrastructure teams continue to shoulder primary responsibility for selecting and deploying application services. However, as organizations expand their cloud- and container-native app portfolios, DevOps groups are taking more responsibility for app services.

Related Links

Hot Topics

The Latest

Payment Outages Threaten $44.4 Billion in US Retail and Hospitality Sales Annually

Payment system failures are putting $44.4 billion in US retail and hospitality sales at risk each year, underscoring how quickly disruption can derail day-to-day trading, according to research conducted by Dynatrace ... The findings show that payment failures are no longer isolated incidents, but part of a recurring operational challenge that disrupts service, damages customer trust, and negatively impacts revenue ...

From Automation to Intelligence: How AI Will Redefine DevOps in 2026

For years, the success of DevOps has been measured by how much manual work teams can automate ... I believe that in 2026, the definition of DevOps success is going to expand significantly. The era of automation is giving way to the era of intelligent delivery, in which AI doesn't just accelerate pipelines, it understands them. With open observability connecting signals end-to-end across those tools, teams can build closed-loop systems that don't just move faster, but learn, adapt, and take action autonomously with confidence ...

AI First? Why CIOs Are Putting the Cart Before the Horse

The conversation around AI in the enterprise has officially shifted from "if" to "how fast." But according to the State of Network Operations 2026 report from Broadcom, most organizations are unknowingly building their AI strategies on sand. The data is clear: CIOs and network teams are putting the cart before the horse. AI cannot improve what the network cannot see, predict issues without historical context, automate processes that aren't standardized, or recommend fixes when the underlying telemetry is incomplete. If AI is the brain, then network observability is the nervous system that makes intelligent action possible ...

Mitigating Complexity for Today's Database Administrator

SolarWinds data shows that one in three DBAs are contemplating leaving their positions — a striking indicator of workforce pressure in this role. This is likely due to the technical and interpersonal frustrations plaguing today's DBAs. Hybrid IT environments provide widespread organizational benefits but also present growing complexity. Simultaneously, AI presents a paradox of benefits and pain points ...

How Enterprises Are Re-Architecting Around AI

Over the last year, we've seen enterprises stop treating AI as “special projects.” It is no longer confined to pilots or side experiments. AI is now embedded in production, shaping decisions, powering new business models, and changing how employees and customers experience work every day. So, the debate of "should we adopt AI" is settled. The real question is how quickly and how deeply it can be applied ...

The State of Application Services 2020

Many organizations are starting to realize the benefits of increased scale and velocity of application deployment in their businesses, according to the 2020 State of Application Services report from F5 Networks.


This value, however, can bring significant complexity as organizations maintain legacy infrastructure while increasingly relying on multiple public and private clouds, implement modern application architectures, and face an evolving and sophisticated threat landscape.

At the same time, organizations are adopting more application services designed to accelerate deployment in public cloud and container-native environments, like service mesh and ingress control. Survey data indicates this trend will accelerate as organizations become proficient in harnessing the data their application ecosystem delivers — creating advanced analytics capabilities and better business outcomes.

"Applications are not just the most valuable asset in the modern enterprise, they are the vehicle organizations rely on to deliver differentiated digital experiences to their customers," said Kara Sprague, EVP and GM, BIG-IP at F5. "This year’s report explores the ways application services are an increasingly critical component at each stage of the application lifecycle. From the code that makes up the business logic of an application to the experience on an end user’s device, application services ensure businesses can build, deploy, and manage applications across environments securely and at scale."

The report — which reflects input from nearly 2,600 respondents globally across a range of industries, company sizes, and roles — shows that as companies manage legacy, multi-cloud, hybrid-cloud, and modern architectures to deliver applications, their requirements for app services are also evolving. To address limited skill sets and integration challenges, organizations are choosing open ecosystems that offer standardization.

The report examines 5 key findings:

Digital Transformation

80% of organizations are executing on digital transformation — with increasing emphasis on accelerating speed to market.

As organizations progress through digital transformation initiatives, IT and business process optimization initiatives mature. Many organizations have moved beyond the basics of business process automation and are now scaling their digital footprint with cloud, containers, and orchestration. This in turn is driving the creation of new ecosystems and massive growth in API call volumes.

Multi-Cloud

87% of organizations are multi-cloud and most still struggle with security.

Organizations are leveraging the public cloud to participate in industry ecosystems, take advantage of cloud-native architectures, and deliver applications at the speed of the business. However, organizations are much less confident in their ability to withstand an application-layer attack in the public cloud versus an on-premises data center. This discrepancy illustrates a growing need for easy-to-deploy solutions that can ensure consistent security across multiple environments.

Automating the Network

73% of organizations are automating the network to boost efficiency.

Unsurprisingly, given the primary drivers of digital transformation — IT and business process optimization — the majority of organizations are automating the network. Despite challenges, organizations are gaining proficiency and moving toward continuous deployment with more consistent automation across all key pipeline components: app infrastructure, app services, network, and security.

Cloud Native

69% of organizations are using 10 or more application services.

As newer cloud-native application architectures mature and scale, a higher percentage of organizations are deploying related app services such as ingress control and service discovery both on premises and in the public cloud. A modern application landscape requires modern app services to support scale, security, and availability requirements.

IT Ops and DevOps

63% of organizations still place primary responsibility for app services with IT operations, yet more than half of those surveyed are also moving to DevOps-inspired teams.

Operations and infrastructure teams continue to shoulder primary responsibility for selecting and deploying application services. However, as organizations expand their cloud- and container-native app portfolios, DevOps groups are taking more responsibility for app services.

Related Links

Hot Topics

The Latest

Payment Outages Threaten $44.4 Billion in US Retail and Hospitality Sales Annually

Payment system failures are putting $44.4 billion in US retail and hospitality sales at risk each year, underscoring how quickly disruption can derail day-to-day trading, according to research conducted by Dynatrace ... The findings show that payment failures are no longer isolated incidents, but part of a recurring operational challenge that disrupts service, damages customer trust, and negatively impacts revenue ...

From Automation to Intelligence: How AI Will Redefine DevOps in 2026

For years, the success of DevOps has been measured by how much manual work teams can automate ... I believe that in 2026, the definition of DevOps success is going to expand significantly. The era of automation is giving way to the era of intelligent delivery, in which AI doesn't just accelerate pipelines, it understands them. With open observability connecting signals end-to-end across those tools, teams can build closed-loop systems that don't just move faster, but learn, adapt, and take action autonomously with confidence ...

AI First? Why CIOs Are Putting the Cart Before the Horse

The conversation around AI in the enterprise has officially shifted from "if" to "how fast." But according to the State of Network Operations 2026 report from Broadcom, most organizations are unknowingly building their AI strategies on sand. The data is clear: CIOs and network teams are putting the cart before the horse. AI cannot improve what the network cannot see, predict issues without historical context, automate processes that aren't standardized, or recommend fixes when the underlying telemetry is incomplete. If AI is the brain, then network observability is the nervous system that makes intelligent action possible ...

Mitigating Complexity for Today's Database Administrator

SolarWinds data shows that one in three DBAs are contemplating leaving their positions — a striking indicator of workforce pressure in this role. This is likely due to the technical and interpersonal frustrations plaguing today's DBAs. Hybrid IT environments provide widespread organizational benefits but also present growing complexity. Simultaneously, AI presents a paradox of benefits and pain points ...

How Enterprises Are Re-Architecting Around AI

Over the last year, we've seen enterprises stop treating AI as “special projects.” It is no longer confined to pilots or side experiments. AI is now embedded in production, shaping decisions, powering new business models, and changing how employees and customers experience work every day. So, the debate of "should we adopt AI" is settled. The real question is how quickly and how deeply it can be applied ...