The 5 Biggest Cloud Migration Challenges
Team TechSur
August 10, 2022
Cloud migration is an intriguing time for the business adopting this approach, accepting the need to modernize and scale operations while improving the infrastructure. Migration is a value proposition for the businesses implementing it and for the clients who benefit from it.
Governments at various levels have been increasingly trying to move to the cloud for years. But, there are challenges of cloud migration that must consistently be navigated to realize the technological, operational, and financial benefits it offers. From compatibility and security issues to the lack of a clear vision, cloud migration challenges can compromise the advent of such dynamic technology. Plus, a failure to address these challenges adds expenses, including the hidden costs of migration.
Here are the biggest pitfalls to cloud migration that government agencies must address to realize the cloud’s full value and innovative possibilities.
The Compatibility Issue
One of the simplest ways to migrate applications and data to the cloud is to lift and shift them into the ideal cloud environment without any redesigning of the apps. While it seems easy enough to make such a shift in real life, it’s not, especially if there is a minimal (or non-existent) knowledge base of cloud technologies.
Additionally, suppose governments or any other industries have legacy applications that aren’t compatible with a cloud environment. In that case, the migration either loses all purpose or requires an extensive/expensive overhaul of the infrastructure in place.
Practical approaches to the above-mentioned cloud migration challenges include:
- Shifting apps that don’t require compatibility changes
- Aligning virtual networks to interact with the existing infrastructure
- Re-architecturing certain applications while rendering others obsolete
Any compatibility decisions depend on the types of applications used and their impact on business capabilities.
Wrong Strategy Configuration
The wrong cloud migration strategy can set back your organization considerably, especially if it doesn’t fit business requirements. It’s supposed to provide a clear roadmap for the complete process of assets to a cloud infrastructure. But, when the strategy and business demands/use cases don’t align, it leads to a dead-end for the governments adopting them, causing a diminished return on investment (ROI) and lower uptimes, causing serious operational issues.
As mentioned above, the lift and shift method is a simple migration method but isn’t a one-size-fits-all migration strategy. When application runtime environments differ from cloud environments, lift and shift methodologies are rendered useless.
Deciding on a suitable strategy requires analyzing business requirements, assessing use cases, and having a thorough cloud assessment to audit the current system data, as well as analyzing scalability needs.
Scope Creep
Scope creep, or cloud sprawl, typically happens when clear business use cases for cloud migration aren’t identified and initial budgets are exceeded along the way. Various cloud instances emerge without a clear reason, leading to expenses spiraling and diminished operational efficiency.
Measuring costs is one of the biggest challenges of cloud migration but can be done by analyzing them alongside performance to assess ROI to determine the success or failure of the migration.
Security Weak Points
Governments must be diligent in securing sensitive data and eradicating siloed data infrastructures. Comprehensively assessing core services and essential data allow governments and other industries conducting cloud migration to understand the necessity for secure migration practices. However, various risk assessment initiatives lack a formidable framework to create a reliable management plan.
Risk management frameworks require a clear identification of security policies and risks to counter them, considering strategic, external, and preventable risks. Having a centralized security policy with strong authentication methods and critical access checkpoints is a key element of enforcing enhanced security for cloud migration.
Lack of Skills To Operate the Refined Infrastructure
Skill shortages are oft-talked about in today’s business landscape and that applies to cloud migration as well. Migration typically necessitates upskilling for existing employees, especially when a legacy infrastructure is in place. The lack of skill on hand is one of the most concerning cloud migration challenges for governments and businesses opting for migration, spending a lot on training.
Studies show that cloud monitoring and cloud environment skills are among two of the highest skill shortages around. Cost and architecture skill sets are also low, requiring potential partnerships with cloud management entities for deployment and management purposes. If possible, establishing such a partnership allows governments, courts, and other industries to see the full, enticing benefits of cloud adoption and migration.
TechSur Solutions solves your problems with technology to automate your simplest and most technical tasks. Learn more about our cloud-native application solutions and how these solutions generate enticing opportunities as you migrate to the cloud.
