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Avoid These Four Common Cloud Migration Pitfalls

Avoid These Four Common Cloud Migration Pitfalls

Avoid These Four Common Cloud Migration Pitfalls

The transition to a cloud-based architecture is not a simple one, nor is it one that can be done overnight. Companies looking to move to the cloud must adequately prepare themselves for the changes that cloud systems bring. The first step any business must take after finalizing their cloud strategy is cloud migration. This is the process of transferring the company’s data, applications, etc. onto the cloud.

Cloud migration may seem like a no-brainer process, but there are a number of dangers that a migrating business needs to avoid. These dangers could be caused by negligence, poor planning, or poor understanding of how cloud architectures work. To help ensure your migration into the cloud is smooth and seamless, we’ve outlined four common pitfalls that you should be aware of, and how to prevent falling into them yourself.

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Not estimating migration time and cost

As much as companies wish it could be, cloud migration is not instantaneous. Depending on how much information you need to transfer, it could take several months to fully migrate everything. Companies should estimate how long it’ll take to bring all their data to the cloud. This estimation must factor in your IT team’s ability to balance the migration alongside their daily work.

The cost of migrating is also something that needs to be accounted for. Hosting data on the cloud is generally cheaper than using on-premises servers, but this is only after everything is migrated. Your initial cost analysis should consider not just the savings of cloud migration, but the estimated cost for IT workers to migrate all your information.

Migrating sensitive or vital data first

Chances are you have a lot of data on your current server that is crucial to your company’s operation or that contains sensitive information. When you’re beginning to migrate data, it’s not a good idea to send this information along at first. You may not fully understand how the cloud system works when you start using it. This means you could potentially mishandle important data and either lose it or expose it. Before you migrate anything, plan out non-critical data that you can send to the cloud first – data that won’t matter too much if it gets lost. Then, once you have a grasp of the cloud architecture you’re using, you can start sending more important information along.

Not maintaining security during the migration process

It’s a commonly-held belief that the cloud is more secure than private storage. While this is generally true, that doesn’t mean your team can slack off on security. Cloud managed service providers (MSPs) will not handle security 100% while you migrate your data. You’re still responsible for ensuring your data is secure as you transfer it from your servers to the cloud. This is especially important considering data is extremely vulnerable to cyberattacks while it’s being migrated from one place to another. Maintaining your data’s security should always be a top priority, especially during the migration process.

Not training your IT team on your cloud architecture

There are several cloud MSPs on the market right now that manage your cloud server. You won’t have to worry about the cloud architecture itself; you’re just in charge of your own data. This means, however, that you must adopt to your MSP’s architecture. Don’t start migrating data onto the cloud before your team has a basic understanding of how your cloud system works. Get your team up to speed on your MSP by linking them to any documentation that will help them understand the cloud’s layout and capabilities. If they offer any, you might also consider having your employees earn MSP certifications to demonstrate their knowledge of the architecture.

These pitfalls can cause a lot of grief if you happen to fall into them. Thankfully, knowing about them ahead of time allows you to take steps to avoid them. Cloud migration can be easy if you adequately prepare yourself for it. The number one takeaway is to not jump headfirst into migrating without first understanding and planning out your goals. Be smart about cloud migration – it’ll save you a lot of trouble in the end.

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