About 52% of businesses have migrated the bulk of their IT support to the cloud, and that number is expected to trend upward. So, what is it about the cloud that draws such a massive appeal?
This article seeks to unpack why cloud computing is so popular and break down what any business leader must know to undergo a successful migration.
What Are Cloud Environments?
In simplest terms, cloud migration is when a business moves its digital assets from on-premises data centers to storage centers that are off-site and managed by third parties. The digital assets could include legacy applications, data caches, IT resources, and more.
Initially, businesses mainly used cloud storage when developing and deploying new programs. However, as technology progressed, businesses expanded beyond cloud-native applications, and eliminating the reliance on-premises infrastructure became more common.
Cloud environments offer many benefits, including:
- Cost efficiency, reducing the need to maintain and secure physical data centers
- Scalability and the ability to adjust to fluctuating workloads and improve application performance during peak hours
- Stronger security from creating data backups and implementing security measures like encryption and multifactor authentication
However, not every cloud environment is the same. There are multiple options, and each bears its own strengths and weaknesses:
- Public cloud: offered by third parties, through which subscribers share storage, servers, and development capabilities
- Private cloud: runs on a private network and on-premises servers that are accessible only to authorized users
- Hybrid cloud: mixes elements of the public and private models, in which there are certain shared resources but strong access and privacy controls for data storage and processing
Which model is best? The answer depends entirely on your business’s unique budgetary constraints and application needs. For example, private clouds are great for security and customization, especially for businesses that deal with highly confidential information. In many other cases, though, a hybrid or public model is an excellent, cost-effective solution.
Any company looking to reduce its internal infrastructure demands should consider implementing a cloud migration strategy, but undergoing the transition isn’t without its challenges. For example, cloud platforms still present data security concerns, such as potentially outdated access controls. There are also many regulations on data handling, such as the EU’s General Data Protection Regulation, ITAR, and CMMC, which strictly outlines how data must be stored in cloud settings. If violated, it can result in a hefty fine.
A successful cloud migration requires a lot of IT expertise. If the transition is mishandled, the impact can be catastrophic, resulting in major data loss or exposure. Then, if there aren’t robust security measures in place, it can create security gaps that lead to full-scale data breaches later.
Cloud Migration Best Practices
Perhaps your company is looking to migrate to the cloud, but there’s a fear of running into roadblocks along the way. Application migration is a long journey, but with dedicated planning and thoughtful execution, you can avoid the risks outlined above. Here are a few best practices to help guide your choice concerning which type of cloud infrastructure would work best, and how to nail the transition.
Create a Thorough Plan
Cloud migration, while a worthwhile journey, isn’t simple. Correct execution requires a thorough outline. For example, IT managers must consider the following factors before taking off:
- Identify key stakeholders: Pinpoint the tech and security leads and form a list of executives who will oversee the migration process.
- Build a strategy: Project the costs and define your motives and goals, whether it’s scaling to meet market demands or promoting cost efficiency.
- Identify workloads: Identify all applications that would work on a cloud environment, on-premises infrastructure, and dependencies; rank your applications by their dependencies to estimate which will take the longest to migrate.
- Outline the model: Select the type of environment that fits best and outline the governance process for integrating and securing each application.
Understand Your Business’s Needs
After building a plan, assess your current state by taking an IT snapshot of your current asset inventory and digital architecture.
It’s good to take a tiered approach, which means you migrate the least complicated application first before moving on to those with more dependencies. This allows the IT team to get comfortable with the end-to-end migration process, which can reduce the likelihood of major mistakes. Cloud migration might not be a complete solution for your business, remember to consult an IT Service Professional for what your business needs.
Successfully migrating your tech stack also requires you to ask the right questions to define how the process will look for your business. For example:
- What is our total budget?
- How much control do we need for things like server upgrades and downgrades?
- Are there any additional services required for our specific applications?
Consider Your Holistic Costs
A big misstep many companies make when adopting a cloud computing solution is accounting only for the operating costs. This approach fails to tally the expense of the migration itself, like the cost of updating and reworking programs to function in a cloud environment. Such steps can lead to downtime and additional labor costs, so they must be factored in.
Costs vary widely depending on the business’s needs and application dependencies, so you should always work out the pricing model up front with a third-party cloud provider. It’s also wise to ask about the cost of scalability if you want to expand your services down the road.
Choose a Suitable Provider
After choosing the right type of environment, you need to choose the best provider. The four main things to consider when selecting a cloud provider are analytics, networking, storage, and security. As you go through the process, keep these factors in mind and break each pillar down into a list of subcategories. For example, with security, identify the services offered, such as encryption, disaster recovery, two-factor authentication, and data backup.
Another key element to hash out is customer service, including the availability of an emergency help desk. As you dive deeper into the different offerings, you can narrow your choices down to select the provider that most closely matches your needs.
Implement Security Measures
As you conduct your gradual migration, security must be priority No. 1.
During the migration, you should restrict data access and use end-to-end encryption, because this is when your data is most vulnerable. However, even after the migration, disaster can strike, resulting in massive damage, both financial and reputational. For example, a 2023 study from IBM estimated that data breaches cost an average of $4.5 million, but simple security measures can help prevent such attacks.
Enforcing strict access controls for private cloud settings is essential to data leak prevention, but it requires routine monitoring and updates. This is why it’s pivotal to create a safety checklist that details the need for routine software updates and password audits to ensure all endpoint users are set to withstand brute-force attacks. Especially for public cloud usage, it’s critical to employ things like virtual private networks and advanced firewalls to significantly reduce the likelihood of phishing attacks, malware, and distributed-denial-of-service attacks.
While choosing a provider, try to find a platform that uses high-end tech, like machine learning and AI-powered algorithms that automate key security tasks. This way, your IT team can be sure your cloud storage will remain secure even when it’s not manually being monitored.
Determine Whether Cloud Migration Is the Right Move for Your Business
There are many benefits to cloud migration. However, doing it successfully requires planning and assurance that you have the right tools to promote efficiency and security. Not all cloud migrations look the same, so it’s wise to have expert, objective advisors alongside you to explain what’s best for your business.
ISOutsource’s roster of IT experts is ready to identify how you can minimize your costs, increase your productivity, and strengthen your security as you look to capitalize on the benefits of cloud infrastructure. If you’re interested, check out our managed cloud services and consider allowing us to lead the planning, implementation, configuration, and maintenance of your most vital digital assets.