Six pitfalls of cloud migration

Successful and rapid cloud migration depends on several factors. Above all, a company must be clear in advance about which systems, applications and data it wants or is allowed to move to the public cloud and what goals are associated with this - for example, in terms of increasing quality and productivity, reducing costs or increasing reliability. There are serious pitfalls that a company needs to be aware of. The six most common ones are listed below by IT service provider and cloud expert transtec.1. do not equate cloud with cost reductionMany companies assume that the use of cloud services is inevitably associated with a reduction in costs. But this is not necessarily the case. They also fail to realize that cost reduction does not always have to be the primary goal associated with the cloud. Aspects such as high availability, resource bottlenecks or digital transformation - to name just a few - can also speak in favor of the cloud and be decisive motives for the decision in favor of the cloud.2. consider different licensing modelsIt is essential to check the applications used and the associated licensing models, as not all software can be used 1:1 in the cloud without further ado. Such use may also be associated with high costs - one example here would be Oracle database licenses, which would be significantly more expensive than an on-premise installation if licensed correctly. OEM licenses from Microsoft may also not be transferred to cloud offerings.3. classify dataData must be classified before it is outsourced. Above all, it must be clearly determined which data is business-critical and should be excluded from relocation to the cloud. It may also be the case that some data cannot be used in the cloud for legal reasons alone (e.g. medical data).4. consider backup and failure scenariosTwo points that must be taken into account in cloud migrations are disaster recovery and the specific services offered by the provider. The two key parameters RTO (Recovery Time Objective) and RPO (Recovery Point Objective) are particularly important here. RTO refers to the specified period of time that must not be exceeded before the system is fully restored. RPO relates to the period of time for which a data loss is accepted, i.e. the maximum period of time that may lie between two backups. The clear definition of these two parameters is an elementary prerequisite for concluding a cloud agreement.5. check the provider's security policiesAre the provider's security guidelines even compatible with the company's internal compliance requirements? This is another question that needs to be asked and answered before migrating to the cloud. It may be necessary to adapt your own guidelines. However, it is also possible that there is simply no compatibility. For example, it is possible that the provider - especially if it is a large, internationally active provider - cannot guarantee compliance with German or European data protection regulations.6. avoid vendor lock-inIt is essential to agree an exit strategy. If a company wants to operate its IT in-house again, it must be contractually regulated exactly how the reversal will take place. Of course, this also applies to a possible change of provider. A lack of transparency in the contract design is a central dilemma of many cloud agreements anyway.