Top Mistakes Businesses Make During Cloud Migration
Top Mistakes Businesses Make During Cloud Migration
Blog Article
Cloud migration has many benefits — scalability, flexibility, cost. But, many companies fall on their face during migration because of mistakes that could have been easily avoided. Here are some of the most common ways businesses fail with cloud migration, and what you can do to avoid this:
No Strategy
Ramping up a cloud migration without a strategy is an invitation for chaos. For many businesses, the complexity of migration gets under-prescribed. It will be much easier to define a roadmap that lays out goals, target dates and criteria for measuring success.
Not Evaluating Applications
Your entire application base is not going to be cloud-ready. If you're thinking that cycles of "lift and shift" without really evaluating that legacy application, welcome chaos. You'll miss the opportunity to evaluate compatibility, compatibility of usage and how many of the apps you attempt to move were even worth the risk of migration and attempting to correct past performance issues.
Mismanaging Costs
Cloud is often (falsely) thought of as a cost-saver and this can lead to organizations migrating incorrectly which can lead to new costs. Without establishing an appropriate budget and implementing a method of monitoring costs in the new cloud environment, organizations run the risk of overspending on solutions that were not being used from the outset. You may not see additional expenses until they ring through the invoices of new vendors or increased cloud costs.
Neglecting Security and Compliance
For your organization, security cannot be an afterthought. A common pitfall for organizations will be taking for granted that their cloud environment meets the compliance standards that apply for the organizations work with the industry. Sacred and robust security measures must be strategically and methodically operationalized, such as encryption, identity management, and performing periodic audits.
Inadequate Data Migration Planning
It can be disruptive to a company's business functions when large volumes of data can be transferred without considerations of bandwidth limits or potential access down time. Implementing a sequential strategy and testing can limit data loss and aid in continuing business functions.
Not Training Staff
Cloud platforms often require a different skill level. Sometimes businesses assume the IT team can handle everything without additional training. You should consider developing your employee's skill level to prevent misconfigurations and minimize operating costs.
Not Testing Performance
Once migration has occurred, there are organizations that do not take the next step in testing out the system's performance in the new environment. An environment that has excellent performance could have significant performance issues impacting the user's experience.
Not Creating a Governance Framework
Without established governance policies, using and managing cloud resources could become a mess for an organization. Organizations should outline who is responsible for what, determine access permissions for cloud resources, and know usage patterns by monitoring cloud resources.
In conclusion
Cloud migration is a significant step toward digital transformation, yet requires careful planning and implementation. If you avoid a few common mistakes, it will help your business make the most of your cloud investment, and become a more resilient and agile company.