There are many challenges that can set back businesses that are transitioning to the cloud, including high costs, low ROI, compromised security, and new vulnerabilities. According to a report, one in three cloud migrations fails, while only 25 percent of businesses meet migration deadlines.
The consequences of a poorly planned transition can include businesses facing losses in time and money and the risk of client data and information becoming compromised.
Even as businesses explore the multiple benefits of embracing cloud computing, several critical elements must not be overlooked when planning a cloud migration. Here is a checklist of challenges that businesses routinely face during the cloud migration process, and the ways in which these can be overcome.
One of the first steps to successful cloud migration is choosing a relevant cloud integration. If a business only wants to move certain applications to the cloud, shallow cloud integration may work well. But a deep cloud integration may be needed if the business needs to utilize serverless computing or even simpler requirements like dynamic load balancing.
Whether you choose single-cloud or multiple-cloud migration, this choice depends on your business’s unique needs. If you are unable to make the right decision, this can result in migration that is not effective and can affect performance and ROI.
By assessing the advantages and drawbacks of the different cloud options available and understanding how these can be applied to your business needs, you can ensure your business gets better ROI on its cloud deployment. A good way to determine this is by checking whether the business needs a single cloud provider, or whether it would do better with multiple cloud providers where, at times, apps may get divided or split into different sets. There are other aspects that must be considered when choosing this approach, such as engaging and communicating with the providers of the many clouds.
Defining and establishing Key Performance Indicators is important for successful digitization since, these can help businesses understand whether the cloud migration efforts are aligned with business goals and expectations.
Businesses must keep in mind that KPIs for cloud migration and effective cloud computing will be different from other functions. KPIs for cloud migration should be able to illustrate the migration progress, efficacy, and efficiency and can include categories such as Page load time, Response time, Application performance, User engagement, etc.
Determining the role of the migration architect is important to guiding a cloud migration. The migration architect or “technician-in-charge” is responsible for planning the process from the start. This includes defining the actual movement of data and the business systems from source to destination. Anything involved in this transition is then planned out by the assigned migration architect, such as defining and choosing the level of cloud integration needed, the type of cloud needed, and the process of defining of cloud migration parameters.
Outlining this role is important because cloud migration also involves testing of the ongoing process and whether it is adhering to the plan.
Different from KPIs, performance parameters and performance baselines can help determine the future performance of the cloud migration through a study of the current behavior and performance of the business. Baselines can also help identify issues or problems that occur during cloud migration.
Performance baselines also include time limits, such as a month, to determine how the system is performing, the hiccups faced, and the challenges that may arise. Data within this timeframe can include both software and hardware components, as well as network elements.
By choosing the right and relevant components, you can help facilitate a timely and thorough cloud migration. These components can include determining whether your business wants to migrate all applications to the cloud as a single operation, or whether they will be moved in stages, one service at a time. When it comes to complex applications, businesses can use tools to monitor application performance, or utilize dependency diagrams to determine which applications and services have the least number of dependencies. For example, businesses can choose to migrate their internal services and systems first, especially those that will not affect existing customer requirements and deliverables. This migration can be followed by customer-facing ones. This can result in a smooth transition and better control.
Dynamic resource allocation can help ensure the optimization of the cloud migration process. Instead of adhering to a rigid and structured format, restructuring of variables can help create a more effective migration and a successful cloud computing system.
No cloud migration checklist can be complete without first making a foolproof plan for moving business data to the cloud. Whether it is through synchronization, or with the help of migration apps, businesses need to plan out this step carefully.
Beginning with the location from which data will be transferred to the destination, to ways in which the data will be accessed and transferred, to the actual process, each of these steps should be thoroughly planned to minimize vulnerability stemming from data loss or damage.
Documenting the switch from the on-premises system to the cloud system can help control any unexpected problems while helping ensure minimal loss and damage to data or information.
Switching plans will need to include source and destination details for data, application details, and customer details. Ideally, moving a few components at a time and testing them for successful deployment at the destination can help determine whether the transition is meeting expectations.
The new cloud migration will also require a set of dedicated resources to ensure work continues, uninterrupted. Additionally, a team is also needed to stand by and address any unexpected work requirements or issues that may arise as a result of the migration.
Cloud migration needs an appropriate environment to be carried out effectively. While assistance for tools and deployment may be provided by cloud providers, the migration process may still face unexpected problems, which can cause it to deviate from the expected plan or even pricing forecasts. Either of these can cause the cloud deployment to cost more than expected or deliver results that are not in line with the plans.
Furthermore, if these challenges are not addressed, the cloud migration may continue to cause higher expenses and require more attention. A poorly executed cloud migration can also force businesses to return to onsite premises physical systems, thus wasting all effort and expenses of time and money put into the process.
For businesses that may be facing resources shortages, leveraging professional assistance such as cloud managed services can prove to be very useful for many reasons:
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