Five Common Risks of Cloud Migration and Mitigation

Many companies are now starting to use cloud computing because it provides them with a much more flexible and reliable IT infrastructure, primarily aimed at simplifying business operations.

Simplifying and streamlining business operations helps businesses sell and grow quickly.

However, bringing a business to the cloud is easier said than done.

There are many things that must be done before your business can reap the benefits of cloud computing. For example, to estimate expense, you must first look at your business. The cost of migrating a business to the cloud isn’t always the same. It sometimes depends on several factors, including its size.

Apart from that, you should also decide if you need the help of a cloud service provider, as the configuration of the cloud infrastructure is quite complex.

Supporting a cloud service provider isn’t always an option, especially if you have experienced IT people in your business.

So to help you eliminate or at least minimize the problems you might encounter, here are the risks of setting up a cloud infrastructure and how to avoid them.

Bring a business to the cloud

Before we talk about the risks of migrating to the cloud, let’s first discuss its benefits.

That’s right, migrating to the cloud is a complicated process, and a lot can go wrong, especially if you don’t enlist the help of a cloud service provider. That’s why careful planning and execution is required to ensure that cloud migration is compatible with your business operations.

But if done correctly, migrating to the cloud will bring the following benefits to your business:

• Better speed and flexibility
• Ability to innovate quickly
• Reduced resource demand
• Better management of growing customer demands
• Cost savings
• Provide instant business results
• Streamline IT
• Better energy management
• Cloud extension

Realizing these benefits can help your business in many ways. They can even help you overtake your competition! But keep in mind to avoid rushing business decisions to ensure a successful cloud migration.

So to help you migrate to the cloud hassle-free, here are the common risks of cloud migration and how to avoid them.

Common Risks in Cloud Migration

To successfully migrate your business to the cloud, here are the top cloud migration risks you should avoid:

No concrete plan in place

Avoid rushed business decisions. Before you start migrating to the cloud, you should first decide if you will be using a single cloud provider or if you will be managing many cloud platforms.

Each strategy has advantages and disadvantages. If you choose a single cloud provider, you run the potential risk of provider foreclosure. On the other hand, you can build your cloud infrastructure with multiple cloud providers and balance workloads across multiple cloud platforms. However, this strategy is more expensive and time-consuming because each supplier offers different services and management tools.

In addition, you also need to determine what you will send to the cloud and what will remain on your local data storage. Note that not all aspects of your business are viable for migration. For example, you should not store things like financial records or customer data in a public cloud.

Solution: Avoid making quick decisions. You can ask yourself the following questions before starting the migration process:

• Why should I migrate to the cloud?
• What benefits do I hope to gain?
• Do I have sensitive data that needs to remain on local storage?
• How many cloud service providers do I need?

These questions will give you a clear idea of ​​how you are going to build your business cloud infrastructure.

Cloud compatibility with existing business systems

One of the biggest barriers to moving to the cloud is the complexity of a company’s existing IT infrastructure. This hampers the cloud migration process as companies need to recruit staff with the right IT capabilities to make the entire architecture “cloud ready” at the speed required.

Solution: To configure the system for migration, assemble a team of IT experts to assess the legacy design, resolve performance issues, and produce comprehensive documentation.

If you want to create a hybrid program by combining cloud and on-premises systems, you need to rebuild your existing IT structure. This will reduce inconsistencies and connectivity issues between different systems.

Data loss

Before you start the migration, create a backup of your data, especially the files you are going to move. You may encounter issues like corrupt, incomplete, or missing files throughout the transfer process. But if you have a backup, you can simply fix the issues by reverting the data to its original state.

Don’t just create backup files before starting the migration process. Do this regularly as there are many events that can lead to data loss, such as power outages or security breaches.

You can create online and offline backup files. Both can be useful in the event of unexpected data loss.

Wasted cloud migration expense

Pricing models from cloud providers are versatile, but they can be difficult to understand, especially if you’re new to it. According to Gartner researchers Brandon Medford and Craig Lowery, around 70% of cloud spending is wasted.

Solution: You pay for the processing, storage and transfer of data in cloud computing. However, cloud service providers also offer other products and services. So as much as possible, make sure that you will only pay for the services or products that you only need for your business.

Try to reduce your expenses. Find professionals who can help you if you don’t know how to go about it.

Security

According to an ITPro Today survey, many businesses face security risks, followed by costs and existing infrastructure.

Moving data to the cloud introduces a host of security issues, such as compliance breaches, breaches of contract, unsecure APIs, vendor difficulties, misconfigured servers, malware, external assaults, unintentional errors, insider threats, etc.

Some companies recognize security risks and take preventative measures to mitigate them. However, most of them are still in the early stages of cloud migration. As a result, they fail to deal with the security issues because they do not have the necessary expertise.

Solution: Find cloud service providers with a diverse portfolio of compliance services such as ITAR, DISA, HIPAA, CJIS, FIPS, etc. They are more likely to spend a lot of money on security to protect their customers’ data from cyber attacks.

Final thoughts

We cannot question the benefits of migrating to the cloud: flexibility, scalability, automation, ease of collaboration, etc. However, you should be aware of the dangers associated with migrating to the cloud. They are present at all stages of the migration to the cloud.

Henry Bell, Product Manager, Country of sellers