What is Cloud Migration?

Cloud Migration is the process which refers to moving/migrating the data, resources, and servers from a physical environment to the cloud infrastructure. The migration can also be from one cloud service provider to other, known as cloud-to-cloud migration. Another type of migration is reverse cloud migration or un-clouding or de-clouding in which applications and data are shifted back in a local data center. Migrating to the cloud is not an easy task and therefore a correct plan with proper solutions is extremely vital. Especially for the SMEs, this migration task is tension-giving because they lack resources and force. Planning of the final goal and can help in deciding the target servers for the migration servers. The migration plan should be such that it delivers optimum agility, efficiency, and cost-saving ability

What are the Advantages and Disadvantages of Cloud Migration?

The Pros –

•Super Scalable

The scalability and flexibility which is provided by the cloud are beyond comparison. You don’t need to fear about the upcoming infrastructure, the cloud can scale the resources as per the exact requirement

•Lower Costs

Profits are not just determined by how much revenues are generated but, also by how much amount of money is saved. Migrating to cloud obviously reduces the costs by lowering the CapEx and OpEx as it utilizes resources as per the requirement and hence you pay only for what you consume

•Automation Makes Everything Easy

The IT staff has got better tasks to do rather than always worrying about taking backups of the several applications and website. The cloud applications update themselves in the backend without the interference, thus improving stability

•Enhanced Storage Space

The vast amount of storage is what every organization needs, which is provided by the cloud. The security of the cloud and increased storage space at a very reasonable cost makes this situation a win-win one

•Increased Flexibility in Operations.

The testing and deploying phase of an application becomes quick and fast due to the increased flexibility. The IT Team doesn’t need to install and deploy the applications manually

•High Mobility

Employees can access the data from anywhere, at any time through any internet connected device. The security is still maintained in most of the vulnerable conditions

The Cons –

•The Sensitivity of Data

The data in the cloud is of the clients and is highly sensitive irrespective of the quantity. While migrating there is quite a chance of data leakage or data loss. Hence, the process of cloud migration is very time-intensive and requires complete planning, evaluation, and attention

•Security Issues

The security would be an issue in all the industries of the world. This is because every time we upgrade the solutions, the attackers come up with new threats. But, the solution will always be developing the counter-attacks

•Interoperability

The interoperability issues are unavoidable and hence it is one of the biggest challenges. This happens because every application vendor uses the cloud in its own way, therefore the communication between the individual applications gets tougher. A single code can’t work for all the applications and therefore if there is a high factor of dependency then the interoperability issue should be kept in mind

•The Cost and Time for the Migration

For the migration of a complete enterprise, the time and cost will be involved in a good amount. Both of these things should be considered and evaluated while making the plan. Also, everyone will take time to get the hang of it therefore, the productivity and costs can get hampered in the initial phases but later on, it can go smooth

The Process in Brief

The plan of a process depends upon the size of the enterprise, type of migration, and the particular resources which the business wants to move. The usual components of the cloud migration strategy include evaluation of performance and security requirements, and selecting a cloud provider. Also, the planning of costs and organizational changes is necessary

While there are lots of positives, but while migrating, an organization needs to consider the negatives as well. The major issues like data integrity, security, application, and data portability, disaster recovery, and interoperability can take a toll on the organization. If these things aren’t planned, the company can face more losses than ever, instead of the multiple benefits of the cloud

The details of migration decide how the enterprise chooses to move the application onto a new hosting environment with no loss. In case of the lift-and-shift migration, everything shall be moved without modifications. But considering other cases, making changes to the architecture or code can prove more beneficial before making the migration

If the transfer has to be done from the local data center to a public cloud, then some other options need to be considered. Factors like usage of public internet, offline transfer mode, and the connection type (private or dedicated) matter a lot. The organization moves its local data to an appliance and manually sends that application to the cloud service provider. Finally, they upload the data to the cloud. Whether the migration would be online or offline, that depends on the type and quantity of data, plus the time-based urgency for the migration

Effective Ways to Alleviate Cloud Migration Challenges and Gain Benefits

People ask questions like, “if there are so many advantages, then why the cloud is not everywhere?’ Well, apart from the several reasons stated here, the main reason for the slow adoption of cloud is the non-surety and non-clarity about the solutions of challenges

Take a look at the solutions towards the existing problems

•Encryption is Must

This is obvious. Encryption keeps security attacks at a bay and therefore the file format should be encrypted strongly so that even if data theft happens, the files shouldn’t get decrypted as that could lead to dangerous outcomes. Various technologies can help you in protecting your data

•Schedule Periodic Backups

No one can deny the importance of regular backups. Even if it is expensive, it is nothing to the cost of recovering the lost data and the tremendous amount of trauma caused at that time

•Take help from the skilled personnel

You should take the guidance of experts whenever doing such important and risky actions. By taking the service from the skilled personnel, you won’t face the troubles which you are likely to get from the less skilled and experienced people. You need to choose the cloud service provider who can offer you services as per your need, plans, goals, and company’s size

•Analyze the risks

Security was, is, and always be the prime concern when migrating the data and applications on the cloud. The cloud gives accessibility, scalability, and flexibility but also it shows vulnerability. You need to find a trustworthy cloud service organization which can take responsibility

•Plan the budget

Even small things require budget planning, and now data migration is a huge task to do which definitely requires proper planning. Ensure that you and your service provider are transparent about it and the profit percentage is more than estimated loss percentage (if some things go wrong, there are exceptions always)