Cloud computing is one of the most dynamic technologies of today’s time that businesses worldwide demand. Cloud offers better security, compliance, higher flexibility to work, and streamlines the services for users.
That being said, it is understandable why more and more enterprises are migrating their business models over the cloud. Furthermore, numerous businesses that are already functional on their respective platforms are now opting for cloud migration solutions due to the innumerable benefits. Learn more about the challenges of cloud migration and how to overcome them.
But is it really that simple to migrate your whole business structure to the cloud? Let us find out in this blog where we will discuss the various challenges of cloud migration and how they can be overcome.
What is Cloud Migration?
To begin with, let us first comprehend what cloud migration means. Cloud migration can be understood as the process of moving an organization’s digital assets, databases, IT resources, applications, and services into the cloud.
Businesses can leverage professional cloud migration services to move their services partially or fully to the cloud. One can also opt to move their existing cloud assets to another cloud where better outcomes can be achieved. Get started by understanding how to migrate to the cloud.
The process of cloud migration requires careful analysis of the business model, strategic planning, and effective execution to ensure the compatibility of the solution with the business requirements.
Cloud migration solutions are mostly preferred by enterprises that are still using outdated and inefficient technologies to run their businesses. By utilizing cloud technology, the performance of the operations can be optimized, and the business can move towards sustainable growth. To maximize this potential, check out cloud optimization methods.
What are the Major Challenges that Obstruct Cloud Migration Solutions?
Migrating to a cloud though may not be the hardest thing to do, but it has its challenges. Some of the most common challenges are given below:
Implementation of the Right Strategy
Implementing the right strategy to move your business model to the cloud infrastructure is vital for its success. Different business models are structured using different technologies to make the workflows operational. However, it is not simply a ‘drag and drop’ function when you migrate your business to the cloud.
If the application runtime environment differs from the cloud environment, you might have to reconfigure the entire system altogether. If a wrong strategy is chosen to do the task, it may lead to inefficiency in the business operations.
Resolution
Whenever opting for cloud migration solutions, firstly assess your business requirements, audit the business data, and analyze the need for compatibility and scalability. Then move forward to create an efficient strategy for the migration. Learn about 5 cloud migration strategies that can be applied.
Issue of Vendor Lock-in
Vendor lock-in is a condition when an organization can not switch to another service and gets stuck with the services of their current vendor due to the agreement. It usually happens when an organization picks a cloud vendor without assessing the future of their respective process and the vendor.
When the need for higher scalability arrives, the cloud vendor is not able to cater to the demand for your needs. Conversely, the issue of vendor lock-in may also come when the vendor suddenly shoots up their price, putting a load on your IT budget.
Resolution
The problem of vendor lock-in can be easily bypassed by picking a hybrid cloud service instead of relying on a single cloud vendor. Leveraging this multi-cloud approach, data can be segmented between a public cloud and a virtual private cloud.
Compatibility Issues with the Cloud
Cloud migration services are usually designed to move your IT infrastructure to the cloud using various tools and methods. However, sometimes the organization you are dealing with is working with such obsolete technologies that it becomes extremely difficult to match their application demand with cloud-provided solutions.
It may happen if the IT infrastructure of the business uses different operating systems, security measures, and runtime environments than the cloud environment.
Resolution
To overcome this challenge, you might have to re-architecture the existing applications of the business. There is no other way to make the apps compatible with your cloud environment. In such a case, the decision is left to the client, which is decided by how adversely it may impact their business. This often stems from common misconceptions, so it’s good to explore cloud myths before making any decisions.
Moving Large Databases to the Cloud
Companies with large-sized databases, such as Youtube, Spotify, etc., face the biggest challenge of migrating their data to the cloud. Processing hundreds of petabytes of data is even a big task for machines.
Apart from it, the data may be unstructured at various places, which may cause bigger trouble in its processing. That is why companies whose services rely on large-sized databases are already opting for cloud technology to obtain higher scalability and flexibility to work. Read about the impacts of using cloud computing for insights on why this is critical.
Resolution
To counter this challenge, the best way is to distribute the data into smaller chunks, making it easier to migrate the data from the existing database to the cloud. However, the problem with this technique is you have to choose which data to transfer first and which one later.
Prioritizing the Critical Services for Migration
Availing cloud migration solutions for transferring your business data to the cloud is no piece of cake. It requires your operations to shut down for a certain time period that may incur several losses to your business.
Data can be complex, and aligning the datasets with the needed technical drivers can be challenging. The organization may have to prioritize which data elements need to process first for the least impact on their overall system.
Resolution
The best way to deal with this problem is to first pre-analyze your workflows and identify critical services that may cause the highest downtime. Accordingly, you can make a strategy with a cloud expert on when they should be migrated to the cloud. Understanding why cloud storage has supplanted standard storage methods can help prioritize storage-based services.
Ready to Migrate your Business to the Cloud?
Cloud migration solutions are really helpful in making your business processes agile, secure, and scalable. Though there may be a few challenges to counter at first, migrating to cloud technology will surely benefit your business big time in the coming time. So start your cloud migration journey today with DEV IT and experience a seamless transformation process.
If you’re ready to deepen your knowledge, consider taking a cloud computing course. You can also explore cloud consultant certification exams for professional growth. For those integrating DevOps, check out the DevOps tool chain to streamline your operations.
