Articles
Businesses across almost every industry are realizing real-world benefits from migrating to cloud infrastructure. These benefits include improved reliability, quicker scalability, reduced energy usage and more. PwC’s 2023 Cloud Business Survey reported that 78% of business leaders surveyed said they had adopted cloud infrastructure. Still, almost half said they hadn’t fully realized all the promised benefits of cloud migration.
Why aren’t all businesses getting the maximum benefits from their cloud migrations? Poor planning, inadequate resources, and other cloud migration mistakes are parts of the problem.
Mistakes to Avoid When Migrating to the Cloud
We’ve helped clients avoid these mistakes in their cloud migration journeys, from planning to execution. Here are eleven mistakes you should avoid when migrating to the cloud.
Cloud migration planning mistakes to avoid
Every great plan starts with understanding what you are migrating and how it will impact your employees, customers and business processes. Avoiding these mistakes in the planning stages is the foundation of a successful migration.
Underestimating the scope of migration
You can’t migrate to the cloud if you don’t have a solid map of your applications, workloads, data and business processes. Businesses often make the mistake of not completing an audit of their systems before planning a migration.
Overlooking the need for a contingency plan
Every project needs a “Plan B”—especially something as complicated in scope as a cloud migration. Not having a backup plan can turn a simple error into a severe incident.
Inaccurate budget forecasting.
Migrating to the cloud includes multiple costs, including project management, cloud services, data storage and security management. Understanding how your cloud systems will be used can help you avoid unexpected costs or excessive invoices in the future.
Underestimating the impact on business processes
Employees and customers depend on having access to the applications and data they need. It’s essential to ensure your migration plan focuses on business continuity and minimal disruption.
Operational mistakes to avoid in cloud migrations
Another set of mistakes made with cloud migrations is not making operational planning part of the strategy. Once an application or workload is migrated, the teams using and managing it must adjust their processes and procedures.
Overlooking data security in transit
One of the earliest risks in the execution stages of a migration is not ensuring data is protected. You may be moving sensitive customer or business data, and migration can put that data at risk.
Failing to plan for compliance post-migration
Migrating to the cloud can mean customer data is stored in a different state or country. You need to ensure you comply with industry regulations regarding data residency and other requirements.
Ineffective data management strategies
Businesses with on-premise systems often have detailed backup and recovery strategies for their data, whether onsite or remote. Migrating to the cloud without updating your data loss and recovery plans is a significant mistake to avoid.
Ignoring application re-architecting needs
Migrating to the cloud from on-premise systems is more than a one-to-one move. There often can be applications or other systems that will need to be replaced with a modern, cloud-native solution to realize the full benefits of the cloud.
Communication mistakes to avoid in cloud migration
Avoiding planning and operational mistakes takes excellent communication. Unfortunately, communication mistakes during migration often lead to additional costs and delays.
Failing to communicate with key stakeholders.
When it comes to cloud migrations, all relevant teams and customers must be informed about timelines, impacts and any changes to their day-to-day routines.
Lack of training and support for end-users.
Your cloud migration potentially includes new cloud-native tools or applications. Not preparing your workforce with training and ongoing support is a major mistake to avoid.
Not investing in change management resources.
Change can be difficult. Migrating from on-premise to the cloud will impact almost every facet of your business. Businesses need to invest in change management planning and training to guide their teams through the transition.
Avoid these mistakes for a successful cloud migration
Migrating to the cloud can help your business scale to meet growing demands from employees and customers. Avoiding these common mistakes can ensure you get the most benefits from these migrations:
- Create a plan that includes all relevant stakeholders, a detailed inventory of applications, data and workloads, and a comprehensive budget.
- Migrations involve more than moving an application from your building to the cloud. Understand what processes, regulations or other requirements are involved with migrating your operation to the cloud.
- Communication is key. Work with your teams to ensure they are trained on new systems or processes. Keep communication channels open to get feedback and adjust your training.
Get in touch with us today to learn more about how we can help you plan and execute a successful migration to the cloud.