5 challenges you might encounter during cloud migration

01.08.2019 1,397 2

Martin Deshev

Moving some or all of your corporate IT to the cloud can be great, but also a bit of a challenge. Often there are issues that arise and can lead to some headaches. So, let’s explore some of the challenges you might encounter during your migration to the cloud.

Winging it with no clear path

Any company will say that, yes, it has a strategy of migrating to the cloud. However, simply knowing the vendor(s) you want, your budget and timeframe is no cloud migration strategy.

You also need to factor in additional and future costs. For example, employee training, cloud upgrades and so on.

Then, there’s the approach to the migration. What services and elements will you migrate first? Will it be a complete migration or partial? Will it be in batches and over a longer period of time or faster? Who will handle the process? Who will help? These and other factors must be accounted for in order to know what exactly you are looking for and what you will need to make the process smoother.

Costs are bigger than expected

If you don’t have a good strategy this challenge is guaranteed. It can also happen even if you do have a good plan in place. One of the main reasons why companies move to the cloud is that it’s cheaper but the actual moving process can be quite costly, especially for big migrations. The cost-effectiveness comes in the long term.

So, you need to consider costs like trainings, bandwidth, rework of applications for the cloud, additional tools to work with the cloud better and more. This is why planning is important, as it will show you what you can handle and what can be implemented at a later date.

Not everyone is on board

And while everything might be going smoothly on the technical side, your team might not be so happy about the cloud migration. Some might worry this will cost them their jobs. Others might feel it’s not the right move for the company. There will be people who don’t really “connect” with the cloud that well and lack the skills for it.

This is where good leadership is very important. Start implementing and migrating to the cloud from the top. Show that management is fully behind the process and leads by example. Make sure it can also communicate the business need for and goals of the cloud migration.

Finally, provide support. Organize and offer trainings for employees who want to hone their cloud skills. Provide additional tools and resources for easier work with the cloud platforms and create an overall positive culture instead of “it’s my way or the highway”.

Neglecting security

One of the top concerns for companies before they migrate to the cloud is security. And while cloud services are generally safer than on-premises servers, they are not almighty.

So, make sure you do your homework and have a proper inspection of the security levels, features and services your potential future cloud service provider(s) offers. It might turn out that they don’t support a feature you absolutely need. Or they might say they are able to provide it to you. Some security features might have additional costs. Long story short, don’t assume that you just get good security with the cloud, but make sure that you actually do so.

Vendor lock-in

Another popular reason for migrating to the cloud is to ease the dependency on one provider. But that can also happen in the cloud. You can’t just move your data from vendor to vendor until you find the one that works for you. Or your priorities might change and you end up needing something different or something more.

So, make sure you do research on the vendor’s policies about data migration, third-party service integration and so on. Also, see what help the vendor provides when you do want to add another service or create your multi-cloud with more providers. This way you won’t end up being locked in one place.