How to Avoid Time-Consuming and Costly Cloud Migration Journeys

June 6, 2023

With the rapid advancement of technology and the increasing demand for scalability, flexibility, and cost savings, many companies are turning to cloud computing as a solution to meeting their IT infrastructure needs.

Cloud migration, which involves moving applications, data, and other business operations to cloud-based platforms, has become a popular choice for organizations looking to modernize their IT environments.

However, despite the benefits of cloud computing, migration to the cloud can be an expensive, arduous, and a time consuming process that requires businesses to assess existing IT infrastructure, select the right cloud provider(s) and services, prepare data and applications for migration, test and validate the migrated environment, and finally, transition to the cloud.

Cloud Migration Challenges

One of the main challenges of cloud migration is the time it takes to complete the process. Depending on the size and complexity of your organization’s IT environment, cloud migration can take several months or even years to complete. The migration process involves not only the physical movement of data and applications but also the reconfiguration of IT systems and processes to align with the cloud environment.

To mitigate some of the aforementioned challenges. Some organizations are choosing to approach cloud migration by adopting a multi-cloud environment, where they utilize services from multiple cloud providers. This approach allows companies to select the best services from different providers based on their specific needs, rather than being locked into a single cloud service provider.

However, in using a multi-cloud environment companies should be aware of the complexity it takes to manage such an environment. In order to avoid having to manage each cloud provider separately, companies often turn to third-party management platforms to provide a single view of all their cloud resources.

One disadvantage of using a third-party governance and management platform in a multi-cloud approach is that it cannot fully utilize the native governance plane of each cloud provider. As a result, companies may miss out on the unique features and capabilities offered by each provider’s native governance and management tools.

Cloud Migration Benefits

Aside from the aforementioned challenges, cloud migration offers several benefits to organizations. One of the primary advantages is scalability, allowing companies to easily scale their IT resources up or down based on their business needs. Cloud computing also offers flexibility, as it enables employees to access applications and data from anywhere, at any time, using any device with an internet connection.

In addition, using multiple clouds provides greater flexibility and portability of applications and services. This allows companies to take advantage of the best features and pricing of each cloud provider and optimize their usage to minimize costs.

For example, if one cloud provider offers better pricing for storage, while another offers better pricing for computing resources, a multi-cloud strategy can enable a company to use each provider’s services for the most cost-effective solution. This approach also reduces the risk of being locked into a single provider’s pricing and avoids the potential for price increases over time.

Furthermore, a multi-cloud approach can provide additional cost benefits by enabling companies to use different cloud providers for different regions or workloads, based on the availability of resources and pricing in each location. This can help to minimize latency and maximize performance, while still maintaining cost efficiencies.

By using multiple cloud providers, organizations can avoid being tied to a single provider’s proprietary technologies, allowing for more flexibility and agility in choosing and changing services as needed.

How to Enable a Successful Multi-Cloud Environment?

To enable a successful multi-cloud environment, companies need to carefully plan and implement their multi-cloud strategy. Here are some best practices for enabling multi-cloud for businesses:

1. Define clear objectives: Organizations need to define clear objectives and goals for their multi-cloud strategy. This includes understanding the reasons for adopting a multi-cloud approach, identifying the desired outcomes, and aligning them with the overall business strategy. This will help guide the decision-making process and ensure that the multi-cloud strategy is aligned with the organization’s needs and priorities.
2. Assess and select the right cloud providers: It is crucial to carefully assess and select the right cloud providers based on the organization’s requirements, including factors such as performance, reliability, security, pricing, and support. Organizations should evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of different cloud providers and choose the ones that best meet their specific needs.
3. Design for interoperability: When implementing a multi-cloud environment, it is essential to design applications and data to be interoperable across different cloud providers. This includes using open standards, APIs, and architectures that allow for seamless integration and data exchange between different cloud platforms. Ensuring interoperability will enable organizations to avoid vendor lock-in and have the flexibility to switch between cloud providers as needed.
4. Ensure security and compliance: Security and compliance are critical considerations in a multi-cloud environment. Organizations should implement strong security measures, such as data encryption, identity and access management, and threat detection and prevention, to protect their applications and data across different cloud providers. Compliance with relevant regulations and standards should also be ensured, considering the specific requirements of each cloud provider and the industry regulations that apply to the organization’s operations.
5. Regularly review and optimize: A multi-cloud environment needs to be regularly reviewed and optimized to ensure that it continues to meet the organization’s needs and objectives. This includes regularly reviewing the performance, cost, and security of cloud services, and making adjustments as needed. Organizations should also periodically reassess their multi-cloud strategy and make changes based on evolving business requirements and the capabilities of different cloud providers.

Conclusion

While cloud migration can be time-consuming and a significant investment for organizations, adopting a multi-cloud environment can provide many benefits in terms of scalability, flexibility, and cost savings. However, it requires careful planning, implementation, and management to ensure success. This is where companies, such as Zelusit, can support your organization through this transition. Our proven cloud migration framework delivers substantial IT cost savings, improved productivity, business agility and operational resilience.

By following these best practices, organizations can enable a successful multi-cloud strategy that aligns with their business objectives and unlocks the full potential of cloud computing.