There can be little doubt of the tremendous impact cloud computing has made on both personal and business computer services. However, to take full advantage of the benefits, you need to have a clear strategy if you’re migrating your business to a cloud provider.
Probably the most important part of strategizing cloud integration is to formulate a clear plan and involve all stakeholders that will be affected by the move. As part of that, it’s useful to be aware of the most common issues faced by firms moving their digital services to a cloud provider.
If you’re looking to migrate to the cloud, listed below are some of the most frequent problems faced by firms just like yours.
Not Developing a Clear Strategy – List of Goals and Timelines
There’s little point in going through the upheaval of a cloud migration if you don’t first know exactly what you want to achieve from the move. Thinking clearly about your goals will lead naturally to how you hope to achieve them – plus will help your cloud provider work out the best methodology based directly on where you want to be after the move.
As part of this goals-led process, you should work with your cloud company to develop a strategy and, crucially, a timeline of milestones and deliverables. Having this to hand will help you avoid delays and let everyone know exactly what’s expected of them, and when – for example, to make a Microsoft 365 migration go as smoothly as possible with your chosen provider.
So-called ‘Cloud Sprawl’ Through not Understanding Cloud Environments
As mentioned, you need to liaise with all stakeholders in the cloud process to work out the achievable aims. The truth is, not all software or resources need to be migrated to the cloud – and, very often, you’ll find some aspects of your processes are best left exactly as they are.
You should spend time talking with each department in your firm that’s going to be affected by a cloud migration (this will likely mean all departments) and work out what software and data should be migrated and what’s best left where it is. Note, it’s also vital that you involve the cloud company in this stage for additional advice on limitations.
Security Issues
You will likely have a very clear idea of your most valuable data resources and software so you must ensure you keep your cloud company informed so they can plan appropriate security measures. This will also let them identify potential weak points or backdoors that could cause issues further down the line.
Going Over Budget
One of the most common issues in cloud migrations is firms allowing job creep and ending up going over budget. This, of course, is intrinsically tied to all the points noted above – in particular, not having a defined strategy with clear goals and timelines that are set out in black and white by all involved parties.
It’s also important to realize that this won’t just impact your firm’s Return on Investment (ROI) – it will also strain relations with your cloud providers and cause them significant budgetary issues too.
