Avoid These 5 Mistakes When Moving Your Business to the Cloud

Companies are getting better at moving their applications to the cloud, but a few glitches are inevitable.

Migration to the cloud isn’t something enterprises do every day. Usually, it is a once-in-a-lifetime event or twice maybe. No matter how technically sound you are, moving data and applications from one location to another can be challenging.  Here are 5 most common cloud migration slip-ups.

1. Thinking all clouds are created equal

All cloud service providers offer the same, right? No. However, this isn’t always apparent. From security solution to server infrastructure, there is hardly any matching point among them. Beyond public, private and hybrid cloud environment, each provider has its own set of pros and cons. Your IT team researching the cloud environment should have a clear understanding of how they intend to use them.

Choosing the right one depends on the applications and requirements wherein you’ve already invested. Hook up with providers that offer flexible rather than take-it-or-leave-it services. Seek out that provider that takes the time to understand your business requirements and can partner you for a long time.

2. Expecting immediate cost savings

One of the key reasons businesses want to move to the cloud is cost reduction. Most companies expect savings right from day one. But once implemented, they feel that saving cost is one of the most challenging tasks.  Although cloud may save costs for your business in the long term, there can be significant upfront costs involved while migrating to the cloud. It’s important to sort your priorities and arrange cost-benefit equation accordingly.

Think of the big picture – evaluate solutions by thoroughly analyzing the benefits and features rather than just marginal cost savings.

3. Migrating all apps to the cloud at once

Another cloud migration mistake is going all in and moving all their apps and online services to the cloud in one go. One might think of it as efficient use of resources, but some applications simply do not belong to the cloud. For example, complex legacy applications may not be worth moving to the cloud since they may require more resources like time and investment.

Moreover, moving all applications at once comes with a deal of risk as well– what if you are not happy with your current cloud provider or if it goes down or your staff is not able to adapt to it. It’s essential to have a cloud exit strategy in place before making the transition. Start small and be considerate of the actual tech-friendliness that you and your staff possess. Consider both the pros and cons against deploying apps on the cloud.

4. Neglecting connectivity

Not only your service provider should have a good connectivity at their end but you also need a reliable connectivity solution to run your workloads. It may happen that your current broadband is not able to keep up with the demands of cloud storage.

When you are moving your applications to the cloud, ensure that your way of accessing the cloud, that is the internet connection, is reliable and strong. Usually, companies are lured by low storage pricing which leads to experience substandard performance – thinking it – ‘the cloud’ which is slow.

5. Throwing away old IT hardware

What happens to your old equipment when you move to the cloud? One of the common mistakes most companies make is that they either throw out their old on-site equipment or pay someone to get rid of it. You may find it surprising that there are people willing to pay for your old hardware. According to IDC, US market for used equipment is about $70 billion/year.

You shouldn’t throw it away; you always have the option to sell it for a few hundred or thousand dollars. But the best move would be to ease your way into the cloud. Instead of going all-in at the first get-go, slowly and replace your old hardware in tiers.

Conclusion

These are few mistakes businesses make when moving to the cloud which results in wastage of valuable resources. Avoiding these mistakes spells great business advantages and makes a robust analysis of your business possible. By avoiding these mistakes from the very beginning, you can expect a smooth and successful cloud migration.