3 Common Mistakes to Avoid When Migrating to the Cloud

In a recent study, Gartner predicted that the upcoming wave of cloud computing will involve migrating even more complex workloads. By 2028, they forecast that 70% of the world’s tech workloads will operate within a cloud computing environment.

However, migrating to the cloud can be a daunting task for any business or organization, with the potential for significant loss of time and resources if not approached properly. Yet, the complex process of migration can be managed and simplified with thorough planning, evaluation and effective cloud migration strategies.

In this article, we’ll explore three common pitfalls of the cloud migration process, and how organizations and teams can avoid them.

1. Lack of Research Before Selecting a Cloud Provider 

The process of identifying and researching potential cloud providers is crucial to the success of any migration. Several factors must be taken into account, including your application demands, scalability and flexibility needs and compliance with relevant industry rules and requirements.

While it’s essential to have business-critical applications in the cloud for continuity purposes, it’s just as crucial to identify a future-proof solution that has the flexibility to meet the demands of future growth and evolution. Therefore, as part of the planning process, organizations should conduct a detailed study of their existing IT infrastructure needs alongside a forecast of their potential future needs. This will help to identify a cloud service provider that will meet the needs of today and set a foundation for the needs of tomorrow.

2. Migrating Without the Right Resources

Cloud migration can be an overwhelming process for organizations, often leaving them completely dependent on cloud service providers. This is why in-house cloud experts are essential resources, whose role is to handle applications properly and ensure a smooth migration. They are responsible for making important decisions such as opting to move low-impact web applications rather than critical applications, and can secure applications from vulnerabilities to avoid the loss of any confidential information, which can prove costly.

Cloud experts are responsible for developing a proper proof of concept, articulating the goals of the migration process. Outlining the entire process ahead of time allows any unexpected issues or errors to be easily identified, investigated and resolved, while also enabling cost optimization.

3. Lack of Cloud Migration Knowledge or Experience

Not every application can be simply migrated to the cloud. Some may require re-architecting or other processes that make them better served to stay where they are. Having the knowledge and experience to differentiate between applications that should be migrated, versus those that can’t or shouldn’t, is crucial to a successful migration.

Another factor to consider is how quickly the migration should occur. One might think that a gradual transition to the cloud would mitigate risks and make the migration process simpler. However, experience has shown that the most successful migrations occur when organizations make the transition swiftly, focusing on early adoption so any lingering questions can be addressed and solved faster.

Lastly, and perhaps most important, is data protection during the migration. Data still needs to be protected even if the cloud provider is compliant with HIPAA and PDI DSS requirements. Securing an organization’s data should be a top priority throughout the cloud migration process.

Material’s cloud migration experts can guide the process

While adopting cloud technology is a key step for any modernizing organization, it’s crucial that the migration process be approached with ample preparation, defined strategies and clearly articulated goals to ensure a smooth transition. Solid research, the right resources and foundational cloud knowledge are all critical.

Material’s cloud specialists can help you create the right cloud migration strategy tailored to your unique business needs. Our customized cloud migration approach, combined with our technical expertise, can augment your internal capabilities and help you plan for and manage the migration smoothly and securely. Get in touch to set up an expert consultation.