What to expect when moving to the cloud

14.11.2019 2,152 14

Martin Deshev

Moving your company data, apps or services to the cloud can be daunting. We have already explored several cases of what to do when moving different content to the cloud. But what we haven’t talked about is what to expect when you do actually initiate the big move.

Do you simply have to copy the data onto the new servers and change a few settings? Or maybe you will have to do lots of reworking of platforms and coding? Will all of this be worth it? When will you start reaping the benefits?

Keeping it real

According to the 2018 IDG Cloud Computing Study, 77% of enterprises have at least one application or a portion of their IT infrastructure in the cloud. Most of the time the biggest challenge is not the actual move, but syncing the management’s expectations with reality.

It’s easy to see why. Managers see all of these statistics about the huge costs reductions and performance benefits that the cloud brings and want the same for their organization. However, there are many additional factors. One of them is that getting these results takes time and it’s not something that will become apparent after a couple of months of use.

Plus, each organization is different, so a different approach would be needed and there’s not a simple, universal recipe for cloud success. Sometimes your team will indeed have to do a lot more work to get things rolling. This is something that should be apparent even from the initial due diligence, but sometimes there are more not-so-cool surprises lurking.

Granted, patience is not really something most managers have. This is why a good tip would be to keep them in the loop for even the smaller achievements. This way they will see that things are moving along, even if it’s not with the speed they were expecting initially. Sometimes this approach could even lead to more insight about what is going on and this could change the expected goals and approaches. While this means more work, it’s also good, as the company and its employees will have a clearer picture of what to do and won’t waste time and money on something that would have ended up discarded anyway.

You’re never really done

This is also something many managers and even employees don’t expect when moving to the cloud. It’s not a process that you do over a certain period of time and then forget about it. The cloud evolves and develops constantly and this means its users also have to do the same.

This could mean adding new features and vendors, or removing old ones, too. It’s something that should not come as a surprise. The cloud will require that you move constantly with its own changes. It’s not like having your own server and keeping it unchanged for years and years (which is bad, so don’t do it).

The cloud will always strive to use the latest and greatest tech. And while the vendors and providers do try and make these changes as seamless as possible, sometimes clients will also have to change their ways a bit. In the end, it’s worth it, as you end up using even better tech.