Cloud migration refers to the process of moving applications, data, or the whole IT infrastructure to remote server facilities. Numerous businesses are embracing cloud migration these days due to its vast popularity and benefits.
The major benefit of cloud migration is that it accepts the workload and it’s pretty easy to include new services which in turn corresponds to the fast business needs. Opting for cloud technologies is not an option anymore and has become a crucial thing for businesses.
Seeing the host of advantages coming with cloud migration, several businesses and people feel tempted to shift to cloud technology. But while doing so, they forget about the risks which cloud migration includes.
Before migrating to cloud, it is critical to understand the cloud computing also. Let’s unfold the major risks which cloud migration involves and different ways to avoid the same in the post mentioned below.
About Cloud Migration
Cloud Migration refers to the process of migrating to the cloud which involves moving elements, applications, and information. The cloud computing environment is its arrival point. Besides the cloud computing environment, the computer services pool available on the internet is also a great arrival point as it ensures that you reach your data on purpose.
Types of Cloud
Usually, there are three main types of cloud you can use for cloud migration:
Public cloud- The most common cloud type is the public cloud. A third-party vendor owns the computing environment. The businesses have the option of using it for free or paying for getting access to it. The constant updates given to you are also an edge.
Private cloud- The private cloud is the most secure type out of all. One running the organization can completely take control of it and this, in turn, lets you customize and protect your data in an advanced manner than ever before.
Hybrid cloud- Out of all the cloud types, the most beneficial one is the hybrid one. The Hybrid cloud connects the public and private clouds to store the data effectively for different data types.
Risks in Cloud Migration
If cloud migration brings you a host of advantages, it also includes numerous risks. Let us learn some of the risks in cloud migration in the sections mentioned below.
Unclear Cloud Migration Strategy
The foremost risk that concerns cloud migration is not having a clear cloud migration strategy. Often, businesses found themselves stuck when choosing between one cloud provider and multiple cloud platforms.
Choosing the one cloud provider exposes you to the risk of vendor lock-in. But if you choose multiple cloud providers, then you can make your code work and balance the work easily. But this is going to be expensive and complicated as each provider has its range of services and tools for management.
According to recent statistics, around 78% of organizations prefer using azure and AWS to avoid the risks popping up during cloud migration.
Rising Expenses
The next big risk popping up during the cloud migration is the rising expenses. While migrating to cloud technology, the businesses fail to take note of the expenses and stress over them later on.
Some businesses know the data prior but still, application dependencies continue to take place making the cloud migration complicated and increasing the overall price. Once this happens, you’ll need to pay for its maintenance.
Consequently developing the cloud cost optimization plan at the outset is always a great idea and can assist you in saving unexpected expenses.
Loss of Data
One significant risk in cloud migration is the loss of data. Businesses should ensure that all the data is backed up before starting with the cloud migration, especially the files which you are going to migrate.
Otherwise, there is always a hovering risk of getting such issues as corrupt, incomplete, or missing files. But if you have the backup, then you can easily correct any errors and restore the data in its original way.
Information got Stuck
In addition to the above-mentioned risks, sometimes the organizations also run the risk of getting the information stuck in the cloud. It gets difficult for you to get your data from the cloud computing environment in case you are considering the cloud exit strategy.
Consequently, the best way out for you is to get rid of and replace the outdated pieces of information. You can also store the information on your hardware as an external database.
Lack of Visibility and Control
The top risk in cloud migration is the lack of visibility and control in the public cloud. Lacking visibility might affect the network and application’s performance. One tends to get full control over the resources such as networks, data centers, and physical hosts but only if you use your data centers.
As per a recent survey done, around 95% of the businesses are experiencing performance issues because of the lack of visibility. Moreover, this sole thing has also led to application and network outages.
Poor Security
Not enough security is another risk occurring in cloud migration. It is because the data is extremely sensitive and that’s why investing in reliable technologies with a third-party vendor is crucial.
There are a lot of security risks coming up while moving the data to the cloud. Some of the security risks that businesses face include insecure APIs, compliance variations, contractual breaches, external attacks, insider threats, accidental errors and the list goes on.
Numerous organizations are struggling to resolve these security issues but still, there’s a lot more way to go. The majority of businesses think that there is a need to enhance cloud security skills.
Tips to Avoid the Cloud Migration Risks
No doubt there are numerous risks surrounding cloud migration but the best thing is that you can always mitigate those risks by using the best practices for the same. Go through some of the ways to mitigate the risks and make the most out of them.
Follow the Detailed Implementation Plan
The best way to deal with the cloud migration risks is, to begin with, a detailed implementation plan. By doing so, you can easily protect yourself from unpleasant surprises and the other problems that crop up in the middle of the services.
You should prepare everything whichever you need to move in one place and accumulate everything. Businesses should be keen to protect sensitive parts and have the necessary backups. In addition to this, discuss this with the tech team as this will prevent unnecessary delays.
Consequently, work on creating such a detailed plan and figure out the things required to make the cloud migration a huge success.
Tech Partner
The tech partner you choose for the cloud migration process also helps you to avoid most of the risks. It’s crucial to find a true tech partner and vendor who’ll assist and prevent all the problems occurring during the cloud migration.
Before choosing the vendor, always go through his experience and relevant technical skills. Do know his pricing in advance to avoid the chaos later on. Discuss your security terms and be clear regarding the scope of the work. Keeping all these things in mind will help you to choose an ideal vendor for cloud migration.
Decide your Migration Goals
The most crucial thing during the cloud migration is being clear about your cloud migration goals and defining them at the outset only. While moving into cloud technology, begin with asking yourself a simple question- why is there a need for you to move into the cloud systems? And get answers to all your queries.
Once you are done with this, decide on the list of KPIs which may aid in scaling your business performance and help you to overcome the cloud migration risks. Another relevant step for dealing with the cloud migration problems is building and adhering to a consistent security strategy.
Opt for Trusted Technologies
Besides the above-mentioned steps to avoid and lower the risks, another best way forward is to opt for trusted technologies. Some of the platforms which are mostly used for cloud migration include Microsoft Azure Stack, Google Cloud Anthos and AWS-based outposts, and VMware cloud.
The Microsoft Azure stack includes a set of tools such as azure migrate, database migration service, data box, Movere, and many others. With google cloud anthos, businesses can depend upon the transfer appliance, transfer service, big query data transfer service, and migrate to the computer engine.
As far as amazon migration solutions are concerned, these include application delivery service, server migration service, Cloudendure migration, database migration service, and AWS migration hub. All these technologies are the trusted ones and tend to work best during cloud migration.
Wrapping Up
Keeping in mind the above-stated risks and ways to avoid those risks, businesses can make the most of the cloud migration and enjoy its benefits. Some of the benefits which cloud migration brings with it are legacy infrastructure update, scalability, flexibility, security, performance, and the list goes on. Reach out to Skilled Pragati for scheduling your in-depth consultation with the experts.