The global cloud computing market is expected to be valued at $832.1 billion by 2025. The reason for this growth is simply because an increasing number of businesses are moving to the cloud. While there are many positives about migrating to the cloud, there are also a few cloud migration challenges one should know of.
“Proactively addressing cloud migration challenges is crucial for leveraging the full potential of cloud technology.” - Emil Isanov, CEO and Founder of ETech 7.
Mitigating cloud migration challenges generally comes down to choosing the right cloud migration strategy. It’s also important to understand the potential challenges and proactively plan how to overcome them before you begin the cloud migration process.
To help you get started, our article will explore 7 common cloud migration challenges that are easy to avoid by planning ahead. We’ll discuss what typically causes these challenges and provide strategy planning tips to help you avoid them.
Despite the challenges, cloud migration is worth the effort because it offers significant benefits that can drive business growth and efficiency. Cloud environments provide scalability, allowing businesses to adjust resources based on demand, which can lead to cost savings.
The cloud also enhances collaboration by providing secure, remote access to data and applications. Therefore, you can provide more flexible work arrangements without cybersecurity concerns. Plus, cloud solutions often include advanced tools for data analytics, AI, and machine learning. Having easy access to these tools can increase your organization’s competitiveness.
Before starting your migration, assess your team's abilities to identify any cloud management skill gaps. If found, try to mitigate these gaps well in advance. Planning for training or bringing in outside data migration experts can smooth the transition and help you avoid setbacks.
Cloud migrations can lead to unexpected expenses if not carefully managed. Developing a detailed budget and using cost management tools from the start can help keep your project cost-effective. As always, a proactive approach to budgeting reduces the risk of overspending.
Where overruns may occur can be elusive. So, it makes sense that 75% of cloud migration projects run over budget. Here’s an overview of what you should look at as you plan your cloud migration strategy to prevent unexpected cost overruns.
|
Area of Focus |
Potential Overrun Cause |
Preventative Measures |
|
Initial Planning & Assessment |
Underestimating project complexity or scope |
Conduct a thorough assessment and involve all relevant stakeholders. |
|
Resource Allocation |
Allocating more resources than needed or underestimating |
Analyze workload requirements and use tools to optimize resource allocation. |
|
Data Transfer Costs |
Large data volumes or high transfer rates |
Estimate data transfer volumes and explore cost-effective transfer options. |
|
Licensing & Subscription Fees |
Misjudging software and service licensing costs |
Review all licensing requirements and consider alternatives if needed. |
|
Integration Costs |
Unexpected complexity in integrating systems |
Plan for potential integration challenges and test connections in advance. |
|
Training & Personnel |
Higher training costs due to skills gaps |
Identify skills gaps early and allocate budget for necessary training or hiring. |
|
Testing & Validation |
Unforeseen issues during testing |
Allocate time and resources for comprehensive testing and validation phases. |
|
Security & Compliance |
Unplanned expenses for additional security measures |
Integrate security planning from the start to avoid last-minute costly fixes. |
Data loss or corruption can occur if errors go undetected or uncorrected during your migration. Examples of such errors include mismatched formats and incomplete data. However, you can decrease your risk of this situation through regular validation. Integrating validation checks into your migration plan ensures that your data remains accurate.
A strong security and compliance strategy is essential for protecting your data during migration. 75% of businesses who operate in the cloud report that 40% of their cloud data is sensitive data. Plan to implement comprehensive security measures and adhere to industry regulations to avoid legal and financial risks.
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To maintain seamless operations, it's essential to plan how your new cloud systems will integrate with existing infrastructure. Identify how each cloud service will connect with your existing systems in advance. Then, try to configure and test these connections before going live.
Some downtime is inevitable because the process of moving data and systems to the cloud requires temporarily taking services offline. However, you can reduce the impact this downtime has on your productivity. By scheduling migrations during low-traffic periods and having a rollback plan, you can minimize disruptions.
Your new cloud platform may underperform if you fail to allocate resources properly. Planning resource allocation based on your workload needs helps prevent bottlenecks and ensures optimal performance.
Assess your workload requirements in detail, including CPU, memory, storage, and network needs. Use this analysis to determine the appropriate cloud resources, scaling options, and performance thresholds.
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Moving your legacy systems to a modern cloud environment requires strategic planning that aligns with your specific business objectives. Without it, you run the risk of challenges both during and after your migration.
ETech 7 can help make this process painless. Whether you choose a public cloud, hybrid cloud, or our cloud hosting solution, we can help you plan your migration, execute it, and optimize your cloud resources.
Reach out today to learn more.