As more businesses move over to the cloud, costly IT mistakes continue to arise. These 7 cloud migration mistakes could end up costing you significant time and money, but they can easily be avoided with the right migration strategy.
Switching Vendors Unnecessarily
When it comes to cloud migration, one of the most common mistakes businesses make is switching vendors unnecessarily. If your company is ready to move from a private cloud to a public cloud as its data storage needs increase, it is usually best to work with your current vendor to explore their public cloud options. This eliminates the hassle that comes with transferring providers in addition to transitioning from public to private, or vice versa. Another reason many businesses switch vendors prematurely is a lack of awareness of the options that provider gives to customers having problems. Whether you require more storage or have concerns about a security or compliance issue, your current provider may have options to explore.
Migrating All at Once
Even though most vendors have made cloud computing as seamless as possible, the process still takes time and requires a re-education for your staff and upper management. Experts recommend starting small by migrating only a few applications over during the early stages. This can include data analytics, shopping cart apps, or any other smaller-scale application your businesses uses. Migrating gradually will help avoid a major shutdown if anything goes wrong during the migration process. Transferring these smaller applications over to the cloud also allows you to troubleshoot the migration process before transferring apps that are more essential to your daily tasks.
Rushing Into a Decision
The cloud is the way of the future and the current standard in most industries, but that doesn’t mean cloud migration is a decision that should be taken lightly. Assess your current IT needs, identify areas where local storage falls short of meeting your business goals, and work those findings into a practical strategy for migrating to the cloud. There are plenty of reasons to migrate to the cloud, but “everyone else is doing it” should never be one of them. In order to make optimal use of the benefits provided by a cloud-based system, it is essential to fully understand how the technology in question can serve your business.
Universal App Migration
You don’t need to move every application your business uses on a daily basis to the cloud. In fact, mistakes like this are commonly responsible for unnecessarily high cloud storage costs. With new guidelines such as GDPR, moving certain applications your business uses for processing and storing data could land you in violation of the law or, at the very least, industry regulations. Take the time to consider why each app needs to be moved over into the cloud, and if you can’t come up with a cost-conscious reason to do so, leave it for another time.
Even if you do decide to move sensitive apps to the cloud, you should always consult with your vendor to determine which security measures they use. Your vendor’s privacy policy may not match the guidelines that govern data storage in your industry. Even if there are no such conflicts, you may still need to update your privacy policy to alert consumers of the fact that their data is being transferred to the cloud and explain what that means in a practical sense.
Poor Logistics
Logistics are the key to successful cloud migration. While the cloud offers flexible storage no matter where you are, physical locations still matter. If your business operates on a somewhat local scale, or even just in one country, the location of your cloud provider’s access points has a significant impact on your cloud migration strategy. For example, you may need to block consumers in some regions from accessing your apps due to privacy laws, which vary by country. Always consider these needs when choosing a cloud vendor, and remember that it is possible to adjust your cloud capacity according to the region with many services.
Failing to Adapt Current Applications
Many businesses make the mistake of transferring data and applications over to the cloud without making any adjustments. A simple store and forget it approach is bound to cause hangups eventually. This is especially true if you are moving to a public cloud from a private one.
The applications you use for your business should always be updated and optimized for use in the cloud. If you do not have an in-house IT specialist who can do this for you, consider outsourcing to another company. Too many things can go wrong when you transfer applications meant for local storage to the cloud, so it is ideal to have a skilled IT consultant who can predict these issues before they arise.
Lackluster Security
Security has always been a component of any IT strategy, but the cloud requires a new approach. There are a variety of security issues that can arise during a cloud migration, so it is crucial to understand the risks and have a plan ready to combat them. Automated cloud migration goes a long way toward reducing these risks since it allows your business to stay up to date on the latest security and migration services without the extra effort or human resources.
Another common security mistake businesses make during the cloud migration process is failing to encrypt data that is being moved onto the cloud. Even with an automated migration system in place, you should never assume that your cloud provider’s security measures are enough to protect sensitive data. Industry regulations still hold business owners responsible for securing their own data during and after a transfer, regardless of the provider’s security policy.
From security to early logistics planning, careful attention to the migration process is the key to reducing errors and limiting costs. By learning about these common cloud migration mistakes, you can dramatically improve the chances of a successful migration process.
Contact Bleuwire™ to learn about services and solutions – how we they can can help your business.
