Top Five Cloud Migration Risks To Avoid

Performing a cloud migration can offer your business numerous benefits such as faster time to market, lower costs, and increased scalability. Almost 95% of IT professionals surveyed by SolarWinds have migrated critical applications and IT infrastructure to the cloud over the past year.

But what are the possible risks associated with the cloud migration process and cloud computing? Is it worth it to switch from your current on-premise solution or data center? How do you choose a cloud service provider? To develop a safe, secure, reliable, and scalable cloud migration plan you need to avoid these 5 common cloud migration risks.

Chaotic Cloud Migration Strategy

Chaotic cloud migrations will only produce bad results down the line. Many business owners, enterprises, and small businesses in 2020 want to transition to the cloud but don’t know where to begin. Around 34% of organizations don’t have some kind of cloud workload onboarding process to follow when migrating a workload to the cloud, according to Nemertes Research’s 2019-2020 Cloud, Network, and Infrastructure Research Study.

It is critical that you take the time to create a detailed and effective plan for your cloud migration. Your plan should include the assets you are planning to migrate, a cloud migration project manager, and detailed documentation on security controls and other key elements. If you are considering a cloud migration, check out our Complete Cloud Migration Checklist post. 

One important thing to remember is that a full cloud migration does not have to happen overnight. Your business can move processes over to the cloud in manageable stages that work for you while staying on top of costs and visibility. 

Some companies may wonder if it’s worth it to make the switch from their current data center to a cloud service provider. Starting a cloud service or cloud migration without a proper plan in place can lead to many roadblocks down the line. There are many questions to ask before beginning a cloud migration. Here are a few that may help save you costs and security headaches down the line:

A.. What is the best way to phase the migration? 

B. What cloud resources do I actually need?

Cloud Security Risks

Cloud security is a big topic of discussion among business owners, security professionals, and researches alike. While cloud solutions can provide the added security that some on-premise solutions can’t, your business may still have security concerns before migrating to the cloud. 

73% of organizations already have at least one application or some portion of their computing infrastructure in the cloud, according to a 2018 Cloud Computing Survey by IDG. 17% plan on utilizing cloud computing to some extent within the next 12 months. Additionally, Cisco estimated that 93% or more of workloads will be in the cloud by 2020. For this reason, it is absolutely essential that vendors address cloud security in every step of the cloud migration process. 

Nearly 78% of organizations are currently using both AWS and Azure to avoid common risks in cloud migration according to a Cloud Adoption and Risk report by McAfee. AWS from Amazon and Azure from Microsoft are both cloud computing services created for building, testing, deploying, and managing applications and services through data centers. 

It is vital you encrypt your data at rest and in transit. 49% of cloud databases are reported to be unencrypted, leaving their information vulnerable. Talk to your cloud vendor and ensure that all of your sensitive data stored in the cloud is encrypted at all times, in rest and in transit. If you aren’t confident in your ability to execute a successful and secure cloud migration, the experts at Thortech Solutions can help. 

A survey of AWS users found that 73% were affected by misconfigured cloud environments. Talk to your cloud vendor or security professional and ensure that your cloud operations are properly configured. They will encourage you to implement all necessary cloud migration security steps like two-factor authentication, end-user security training, and application migration security.

1. What is my current security architecture?
2. How will my cloud vendor help with risk management? 
3. Is my cloud environment properly configured? 
4. Can my cloud architecture scale up securely? 
5. Are there any data compliance requirements that I should consider before moving to the cloud?

Unexpected Cloud Costs

It is true that a well-planned cloud migration can save your business thousands compared to an on-premise solution. For example, after moving storage into the cloud service, Myers-Briggs saw a reduced total cost of ownership for data storage of at least 50%. Also, the hospitality company Wyndham Hotels & Resorts, which realized cost savings of 45 % by shutting down a data center and migrating applications to cutting edge cloud architecture. Some Thortech client’s have seen similar savings by moving away from on-premise applications. 

However, cloud migrations may increase expenses for businesses in certain areas if not managed and accounted for correctly. A lack of proper planning or failure to migrate applications over efficiently can result in unforeseen cost overruns. That is why it is essential to hire a cloud migration consulting company to either perform the migration themselves, or to act as trusted advisors and help your internal IT staff. 

Reports have also found that cloud migration skills are rare and expensive: almost half (47 %) of early migrators said they have teams of more than 50 people dedicated to their migration strategy and process. However, if your business partners have an agile dedicated team of cloud migration and security experts, you won’t face a surprise bank-breaking bill at the end of a migration. 

Here are the questions to ask when estimating the cost of your cloud migration. 

1. What are my current application and infrastructure costs? 
2. Where can I cut costs and create streamlined solutions? 
3. When can I shut down my original systems and make the full switch? 
4. Does my internal team have enough experience moving applications to the cloud, or does it make more sense to hire outside cloud consultants?

Data Loss and Data Transfer

One big worry when it comes to cloud migrations is the risk of data loss. Although cloud migration experts always aim for 100% success during a cloud data migration, breaches and data loss can happen. Avoid transferring large amounts of data without having properly secured and recent backups in place. Implement failover and a managed file transfer tool during migration to ensure validity and security.

It is vital to consider what customer data you may be processing. Loss of important customer data can cause irreversible damage to your business. We encourage every business to consult with a security-minded cloud migration expert before making the switch to ensure safety, security, and data retention during the migration project and mitigate potential risks. 

1. What safeguards are in place during my cloud migration?
2. What resources are available during my cloud migration?
3. If data loss occurs, how will my team respond?

Visibility and Control 

There are many tools today that can help network and application performance monitoring once your business has transitioned to a cloud environment. Cloud service providers like AWS and Azure, along with third-party security vendors, offer a variety of solutions for monitoring and visibility of your cloud workloads. Here are the questions you should ask before embarking on a cloud migration with visibility in mind:

Visibility is often cited as a positive of switching to a cloud service provider. According to a recent survey from Dimensional Research, the vast majority of respondents claimed to have lasting visibility issues relating to cloud applications. 

If your team worries about visibility and control during a cloud migration we recommend consulting with veteran cloud migration and security professionals before beginning a migration. Poor visibility can negatively impact network and application performance if you are not careful. When making the switch to cloud applications and cloud processing you relinquish the responsibility for some of the policies you previously oversaw to cloud providers who may or may not allow you visibility into those processes. This means your business may lack proper visibility into cloud workloads. 

1. What monitoring capabilities exist without the need for manual configuration?
2. Does my monitoring solution integrate easily with my other solutions?
3. Does my monitoring solution offer configuration for security or other alerts?

Our experienced team at Thor Tech can help your company execute a streamlined cloud migration. In our free consultation session, we work with you to evaluate your needs and identify the optimal set of cloud migration solutions to meet your business goals. Whether you are seeking to transition on-premise applications to your cloud platform — or if you need to construct a new application on the cloud — ThorTech can help.