Cloud Readiness: 6 Signs it May Be Too Soon to Migrate

There are many benefits to be gained from transitioning your business to the cloud environment, such as increased flexibility, easier data and system access for employees and higher standards of security than you might be able to achieve with on-site hosting.

However, these advantages will only become a reality if you're fully prepared to make the move from on-premises IT infrastructure to cloud computing.

So how do you know if you're ready? One approach is to look out for signs that the migration is happening too soon for your company.

1. You don't know how cloud migration works

Before embarking on a process that will have major implications for the business and your employees, you need at least a basic understanding of how it works.

One concept you should have a good grasp of is the range of cloud migration strategies available. There are various ways to approach the process, and each alternative has a unique set of benefits and drawbacks.

Rehosting, for example, is the simplest way to move your data and applications to the cloud, but it won't give you access to the widest range of cloud computing capabilities. Refactoring is a more complex undertaking, but could prove more cost-effective and beneficial for the business in the long term.

Make sure you understand all of the options and think carefully about which one is best for you.

2. You don't have clear goals

Cloud migration is comparable to any other major business project, in that it should always be focused on specific, measurable and achievable goals. These aims must be relevant to your company and what you're currently working to achieve.

Common objectives include:

Achieving higher levels of scalability and agility
Facilitating remote collaboration
Minimizing the costs associated with on-site data centers
Improving tech resilience

Whatever your specific goals might be, it's crucial that they're closely aligned with broader organizational strategy. That relies on close interaction between key stakeholders from the IT team and senior business leaders and decision makers.

3. You haven't determined your budget and costs

Transitioning to the cloud could help you raise cost efficiency and optimize your cash flow over time, but in the short term, you need to be prepared with a budget that accounts for the various costs associated with the migration.

Learn more: How to Calculate the Cost of Cloud Migration

This can be a financially demanding process, especially if you're re-engineering applications from scratch to ensure they can access the broadest possible range of cloud capabilities.

It's also important to consider your cloud infrastructure's total cost of ownership. This should include related expenses such as delivering training for employees who will be using new systems and technologies.

4. You don't have the right skills in-house

To maximize the chances of your cloud migration being a success, you need to evaluate the tools and capabilities you already have available in-house to facilitate the project.

As far as your IT team is concerned, look for answers to questions such as:

Does your team have the skills required to manage an orderly transition of data and applications to the cloud?
Do your employees have past experience in this area?
Will capable workers be ready and available to dedicate sufficient energy to the migration, or will there be other demands on their time?

If these questions lead to concerns about skills shortages in the company, make sure you're confident in your ability to bridge these gaps before embarking on a migration.

5. You're unsure which apps and data are suitable to migrate

It's important to take a pragmatic approach and to be realistic about the fact that not all workflows and applications within your business are well-suited to cloud hosting. There are many reasons - concerns over data sensitivity, for example - why you might want to stick with on-premises systems for certain processes and assets.

Be sure to make these distinctions early on in the process and be clear about which elements of your IT infrastructure will be moving to the cloud. This can help you mitigate risk and avoid difficult situations, such as discovering late in a migration project that certain applications are incompatible with cloud hosting.

6. You're unclear about security and compliance requirements

Security and compliance should be top priorities in any cloud migration, so make sure you focus on these concepts from the start and consider them in every decision you make.

This will prove particularly significant when you're evaluating cloud service providers. Before committing to any platform, make sure you have confidence in key features such as:

Identity and access management
Disaster recovery functions
Firewalls and endpoint security

Doing your research to ensure you make well-informed decisions on this front could prove crucial to the future performance and success of your business. You should have complete confidence that your cloud platform and services are not only secure, but in full compliance with the latest regulations around data protection and privacy.