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A migration to the cloud promises a whole host of benefits, such as reduced costs, increased agility and better scalability. The potential for improved efficiency and innovation is a powerful draw for organisations of all sizes.
However, embarking on a cloud migration isn’t a surefire ticket to success. Indeed, up to 70% of all cloud migrations fail. Migration can be incredibly complex, and those who begin their cloud journey can often fall into common pitfalls that hurt their chances of success.
In this article, we will help you navigate these common pitfalls by identifying some mission-critical considerations, discussing how they impact your migration journey and offering some tips and solutions to avoid them.
One of the most significant concerns for businesses considering cloud migration is data security and compliance. Moving sensitive data to a new environment will inevitably introduce new vulnerabilities and requires careful planning to maintain the confidentiality, and integrity of your data. This includes ensuring that data is protected both in transit and at rest, access is strictly controlled, and that the cloud environment adheres to all relevant industry regulations.
Failing to consider security and compliance properly can result in data breaches: which can lead to fines, reputational damage, and ultimately, a failed migration. Here are some important best practices to follow to safeguard from data and compliance threats:
· Conduct a thorough Security Assessment: Before migrating, assess your current security posture and identify any vulnerabilities. We recommend reviewing your data pipelines, maliciously understanding how data moves through your current workloads, and how a cloud replacement will differ.
· Select the cloud provider for your compliance regulations: Look for a cloud provider with experience and certifications in the regulations you’ll need to follow. Operating in the EU and the UK? Look for a GDPR-compliant provider, such as Microsoft Azure. Storing sensitive US health data? Ensure your provider is HIPAA-compliant. We recommend walking through your exact data requirements with a managed service provider to make the right choice.
· Implement a Zero Trust Approach: A Zero Trust model requires verification for every access attempt, regardless of whether the user is inside or outside the network. Also known as "never trust, always verify", zero trust requires the use of micro-segmentation, least privilege access, and continuous monitoring to secure resources.
A significant cost of a cloud migration that is often overlooked is the impact of operational downtime. Simply put, it takes time to move resources and workloads to a cloud environment, and this will inevitably have some impact on your day-to-day operations.
Time spent not working is money that isn’t earned. The ‘bill’ of operational downtime in terms of opportunity cost can get pretty sizable, especially if you haven’t taken the necessary steps to protect business continuity. According to Gartner, the average cost of IT downtime is $5,600 or £4,500 per minute.
How can you minimise the impact of a cloud migration on your business continuity? Here are some actionable tips:
· Use a Phased Migration: Instead of an all-at-once approach, consider a phased migration. Movie applications and data in stages, prioritising less critical or complex workloads for the initial phases. A useful hack is to start with the most ‘cloud-ready’ workloads. Perhaps some applications already use some cloud resources? Do they have out-of-the-box cloud replacements? Are there teams of users that already have the necessary know-how to start using their cloud workloads straight away?
· Build in Redundancy and Failover: Design your cloud architecture with redundancy and failover capabilities. If one component fails, another can take over seamlessly. Cloud features such as availability zones and regions can help distribute your resources and protect against outages.
· Have a Rollback Plan in Place: Have a well-defined rollback and backup plan in case of unexpected issues. Familiarise yourself with the steps needed to revert to the previous environment as you may need to do this fairly quickly if things go wrong.
· Partner with a Managed Service Provider: Consider partnering with a managed service provider (MSP) like Typetec to help you develop a robust migration plan.
Cloud migrations often overspend - with McKinsey estimating that as much as 30% of all cloud migrations come in over budget. The simple truth is that organisations, fearful of not having enough cloud resources to meet their demand, over-provision their cloud environment. Not right-sizing is essentially burning cash.
Cloud costs can quickly spiral out of control if not carefully managed, impacting the return on investment (ROI) of the migration project and potentially leading to budget overruns.
How can you avoid this vicious cycle? Here are some of the most crucial cloud cost management techniques:
· Right-Size Resources: Avoid over-provisioning by assessing your resource needs. Analyse historical usage data and forecast future requirements to determine what you actually need. A lot of this comes with experience, so partnering with a cloud migration partner (such as MSP) will do wonders here.
· Regularly review and adjust your resource allocations: Resource uses change and fluctuate, and you’re more likely to catch any over-provision if you’re regularly monitoring your environment.
· Cost Optimisation Tools: Use cloud cost management tools to gain visibility into your cloud spending. These tools can use AI to help you identify areas of waste, optimise resource utilisation, and track your cloud budget.
· Automated Scaling: Auto-scaling can dynamically adjust your resources based on demand. This ensures that you only pay for the resources you actually need, scaling up during peak periods and scaling down during off-peak hours.
Don't hesitate to negotiate with your cloud provider for better pricing. As your cloud usage grows, you can leverage your increased spending power to secure discounts or better terms. A cloud migration partner can help you approach your provider to get the best deal.
Finally, watch out for the human factor in the migration journey. Migrating to the cloud often requires new skills and expertise that your existing team may not have. Identifying and addressing these gaps through training and development is crucial for a successful cloud migration.
How can you do this? Here’s some tips:
· Use the Training Resources Available: Cloud providers, such as Microsoft Azure, have lots of resources you can use to get your team up to speed. Microsoft Learn has hundreds of online courses and workshops on any aspect of the cloud journey.
· Provide Hands-on Experience: Give your team the opportunity for hands-on experience with the cloud environment before you go live. Try setting up test environments, working on pilot projects, or running cloud-based ‘hackathons’.
· Cloud-Focused Recruitment: If you are unable to fill all skill gaps through training and development, consider hiring new talent with the required cloud expertise.
Noticed a theme in all of these challenges? Often the root cause of a failed migration is the lack of proper planning or expertise. The best solution is to work with an experienced cloud migration partner.
A managed service provider (MSP) like ourselves has the necessary expertise and know-how to help you plan a successful migration, spot potential pitfalls and help you monitor your migration to ensure continued success. Ready to take the leap? Get in touch with us today and see how we can help!