Challenges in Cloud Migration. How to Overcome Them

It’s no surprise that cloud computing has become increasingly popular in recent years. For industries of all sizes, there are various advantages to using the cloud, including enhanced efficiency, better support, lower costs, profitability, scaling, and much more. The biggest cloud vendor for SMBs, Amazon Web Services (AWS), is predicted to have the highest percentage market share. Despite this rapid expansion, many businesses have yet to fully realize the benefits of a cloud data environment since migration is still a significant obstacle.

Financial cost uncertainty, security, and internal resistance to change are among the primary concerns. As a result, organisations must carefully design a plan and execute it flawlessly to ensure safe and effective relocation.

It’s a good idea to seek the advice and assistance of a cloud-managed service provider, so you can take advantage of their technology and skills expertise in understanding how the cloud environments support work. So, before you use cloud-based computing to optimise your workflow, these are the top hurdles to consider as your firm prepares for the transition.

Common Cloud Migration Challenges

1. Lack of a Cloud Migration Strategy

It has been observed that several businesses start the cloud migration process without preparing any strategy. An end-to-end cloud migration strategy is needed for successful cloud adoption and deployment.

• Solution

You need to begin with a comprehensive cloud migration strategy. In this scenario, properly examining your existing framework and business goals can aid you in selecting the best plan and determining where you want to integrate.

2. Data Security and Compliance Risks

Data security and regulatory concerns are the most significant roadblocks to AWS cloud adoption. Despite the cloud environment being entirely secure, companies and organisations are still apprehensive about handing over their confidential data to third-party cloud providers. According to the State of Cloud Security survey, 56% of respondents are highly concerned about cloud security while shifting to the cloud. The reluctance to migrate to the cloud stems from technological and application-specific concerns. If data are compromised during the relocation process, it could cause significant interruption. The most serious concerns are data sensitivity, which is exacerbated by poorly designed apps and lax controls over access to information and systems handled by businesses.

• Solution

You can mitigate such security concerns by using Security as a Service (SaaS). Furthermore, many cloud providers have built-in security capabilities to assist their users with data security.

3. Uncertain Cost of the Cloud Migration Process

Migrating to the cloud could save money over time by streamlining procedures, increasing productivity, and lowering administrative costs. However, getting there can feel like a costly and time-consuming procedure. Moving to the cloud can be expensive, especially if your firm fails to adequately assess the financial implications ahead of time. The pricing should include not just the cost of using cloud platforms but the cost of migrating to the cloud, long-term financial risks associated with slow adoption, and the essential training required following the cloud transfer. If not handled, such budget surprises could be a roadblock to successful cloud migration.

• Solution

In cloud migration, producing is the best approach to prevent large costs.

4. Skill Shortage

Despite the many advantages of cloud computing, the difficulty of migration restricts many businesses during their execution. One of the most significant challenges is locating personnel with the necessary expertise to manage a successful migration. As more businesses turn their attention to the cloud, the demand for migration professionals has grown. Regrettably, the need for cloud experts outnumbers the supply. According to a McAfee survey, the cybersecurity skills gap prevents 40% of IT employees from moving to the cloud.

• Solution

The best method to close the talent gap is to enlist the support of a cloud management partner via extended teams.

5. Adoption Resistance 

When it comes to basic cloud migration obstacles, people are often the most difficult to overcome. People are resistant to change, and cloud migration entails a lot of change – frequently with considerably new systems, leadership, processes, etc. Failure to address the human components of cloud migration will only make it more challenging to complete successful cloud migration.

• Solution 

A change management strategy, combined with several essential methods, can help you gain widespread buy-in and speed up the cloud adoption process.

6. Avoiding Vendor Lock-in

Migrating to the cloud might be beneficial to your company, but it can also lead to restrictions, which is known as vendor lock-in. When companies choose a cloud vendor, they examine their current needs. As they grow, they’ll need more interoperability, which isn’t always possible with every cloud-based service, potentially disrupting your operations.

• Solution

Provider lock-in can be a major issue for CTOs, and the ideal approach is to become a hybrid rather than relying on a single supplier or vendor. You can store sensitive data on a Virtual Private Cloud infrastructure or non-sensitive services on a public cloud using a multi-cloud strategy.

7. Prioritisation Problems

One of the most crucial parts of cloud migration is prioritisation. It is a method of identifying key services and components that must be migrated first or prioritised to avoid any downtime.

• Solution

You’ll need pre-defined key indicators to better connect the technical drivers and data pieces gathered during the pre-migration evaluation. After that, a brainstorming session with all the stakeholders can help identify these indicators and the priority of workload migration.

8. Massive Database Migrating

Most businesses choose cloud migration to address data storage issues and other requirements, such as scalability and flexibility. However, they run into an issue selecting whether to move everything at once or in smaller portions.

• Solution

Taking a page from Spotify’s cloud migration path, you can move the complete database to cloud architecture in tiny sprints. Spotify’s engineering teams, for example, moved 50-70 services every week, prioritising them based on necessity.

9. Compatibility Challenge

In the cloud environment, one of the simplest ways to transfer your applications and services is to simply “lift and shift” them. However, in real-world circumstances, moving your data and programmes from one environment to another is more complicated.

• Solution

Companies can redesign their current applications using DigitalNZ to get them cloud-ready or retire them entirely. The choice is made based on the type of application and how it affects business capabilities.

10. Choosing Cloud Services

There are numerous cloud service providers offering various services. But not every service is compatible with your company’s needs. Instead of investing in a package of services, businesses should focus on specialised cloud-based services. On the other hand, the difficulty is determining which cloud service is best for your company.

• Solution

Contact cloud providers and have them examine your current systems so you can figure out where these services fit in. It will assist you in determining whether or not a service is appropriate for your project.

Conclusion

Every organisation faces different challenges when it comes to cloud migration, so there is no one-size-fits-all approach. Costing, compatibility, flexibility, performance, security, and scalability are six critical factors of cloud adoption strategy.

It isn’t easy to develop the right cloud adoption plan and ensure that all of these considerations are taken into account. So, the key is to understand the organisation’s need and adopt the cloud migration as per the need.