When it comes to cloud adoption enterprises usually have a lot of questions and worries around the whole process. While moving to the cloud has its obvious benefits, the first step of evaluating the digital transformation is to weigh all of the known (and possibly unknown) risks that come with it. So, we identified the top 13 hurdles when it comes to cloud migration in this article.
Insufficient Training – Employees do not know to implement the cloud infrastructure in the organization. Lack of overall IT experience within the company is a prerequisite for finding external cloud experts that will be the human resource behind the transition.
Complexity Due to Multiple Locations and Divisions – Implementing cross-functional teams can help support better collaboration and integration, while also avoiding shadow IT. For the whole organization to take advantage of the cloud migration implementation, all of the division managers need to be trained on how the new processes will work.
No Strategy -> No Action – Moving to the cloud is a lengthy process that acquires a lot of planning. Some companies delay making this step because of this. Cloud adaptation itself is time-consuming and complex enough to be implemented. But once set in place the need for support is very little. The first action could be hiring external IT partners so they can plan and implement the initial strategy. The internal effort could be down to a minimum when the heavy lifting job has been taken away.
High Initial Costs – A large portion of the annual budget could be spent on cloud migration so good planning ahead should be done. While this is true, there are a lot more benefits of cloud integration that might reduce the effect of the large expense. Such positives are the ability to innovate faster and the increased agility and flexibility. Implementation and transition costs might be too high for some small and medium-sized companies but for large enterprises where cloud migration makes more sense -- overall costs seem to be more affordable and the way to go in the future.
Data Governance – Many think that when data is being moved to the cloud it won’t be as secure as it was on a physical machine. Large cloud service providers also offer compliance and encryption. Cloud compliance assessments and reports can be made beforehand so their security posture can be 100% ensured.
Data Sovereignty – It is a big worry in mostly the public sector, government, military & defense organizations that are heavily regulated. Personal data is very sensitive and while new data-driven technologies yield benefits and potentials, they also confront different agents and stakeholders with challenges in retaining control over their data. Thus, there is a need to investigate systematically what data sovereignty is intended to encompass when migrating to the cloud.
Overthinking – Organizations that want to do things right invest in deep analysis on cloud adoption. So many times it happens that we face the Analysis Paralysis Phase that results in delay or even completely stops the process of moving forward. Mental barriers such as trust and lack of knowledge amplify the overthinking process and give no room for actual improvement. Overcoming this step as fast as possible can be done by making an informed decision.
Current Workload Complexity – Every company has its way of doing things. Most of the time they are reluctant to change their workflow and they fear that working in the cloud will bring difficulties in their day-to-day tasks. No such scenario will happen when objectives that need to be met are communicated beforehand and planned according to the enterprise’s specifications.
Loss of Control – This concern is typical for every type of service when it is outsourced. Overlooking the whole process takes a lot of resources and this is when the realization that full control has been lost comes forward. Involving project managers and using project management tools are always the best way to handle large-scale projects so every step can be monitored closely.
Integration with the Existing Architecture – Changing what is working might be a no-no, but when it comes to cloud computing – it can be much easier to wrap your head around and implement the new working technology for better performance results.
Privacy / Security Risks – Private physical platforms do not offer better storage security. Giants like Amazon, Google, or Microsoft (and respectively their services: AWS, Azure, GCP) have built their security walls for decades now and this is why they are the virtual service providers that fill the gaps in your online defense system when moved to their cloud environment. Cloud operations platform allows organizations to enforce cloud security best practices that are emended and automatically detect threats, issues, and inefficiencies across their multi-cloud infrastructure.
Data Loss – Data is traceable and usually backed up often so that it is almost impossible to lose any data along the way. Data might not be stored in the same place anymore but once migrated it can live on the cloud forever. In the whole moving process, some of the data can be archived or distributed in a way it makes more sense for the organization to use in the future but is never lost.
Risk of Intellectual Property Theft – Intellectual property rights are usually very well protected and relatively easier to prove but in the case of data migration, it might get complicated. Cloud providers are shoring up their defenses by placing tighter restrictions on user access and making greater use of data encryption, as well as providing real-time threat detection techniques.
Whatever you are worried about we might already have thought of it. This list scratches the surface of how challenging, worrying and difficult cloud adoption could be. But fear not of any of the points above when you have a reliable IT company on your side in this process. We encourage you to explore the possibilities of what the cloud can do for you.