Introduction

COVID-19 led businesses to migrate to cloud platforms at a raging speed as it supported remote access to data and business operations. It also cut down on finances and streamlined processes, leading to a boost in productivity. In this blog our major focus will be on why businesses need cloud migration and pointers to keep in mind when migrating business data. Let’s explore the topics without further ado.

The Need for Cloud Migration

Modernizing business operations has become a critical practice with the continuous evolution of technologies. Very soon, legacy on-premises platforms will become history as they will no longer be updated and have limited resources that may no longer be compliant with trends or used by businesses. The following are a few other reasons why businesses need cloud migration:

Need of Migration in Cloud Computing #1 Reduce IT Costs

Cutting costs is one of the major reasons why businesses opt for cloud migration. Using cloud-based platforms, IT leaders can easily right-size computing resources based on current business requirements and cut down on unnecessary, wasteful spending.

Need of Migration in Cloud Computing #2 Increase Business Agility

Business agility is a crucial element in the advanced global economy. To ensure businesses are on equal par, it is significant to have access to flexible and on-demand IT resources. Cloud platforms nowadays supply almost 99% of the tools and applications that match business needs. The best part about this is that companies need not wait to get hardware components or installations, as everything is done over the internet. They can hire cloud services and compete with their respective markets in a short period of time.

Need of Migration in Cloud Computing #3 Enhance Security

Data protection and cybersecurity will always remain a major concern of businesses. Moving business to the cloud modernizes the IT infrastructure by following the best practices and strongly protecting sensitive data from possible cyber threats and attacks.

Need of Migration in Cloud Computing #4 Consolidate Data Centers

The power of cloud is so strong and reliable today that businesses need not go through the hassle of managing their own on-premises data centers. IT teams can outsource backend responsibilities to cloud migration service providers. Moreover, businesses can streamline operations while granting on-demand access to cloud services, thereby enhancing overall organizational efficiency.

Need of Migration in Cloud Computing #5 Accelerate Growth

Businesses have become increasingly dependent on the latest technologies for their organic growth and profitability in the form of mergers and acquisitions. Cloud migration can seamlessly integrate new mergers into existing cloud platforms. This enhances the scalability of the businesses through the use of auto-scaling functionality and adaptable data management services.

Also Read – Top 6 Cloud Migration Challenges & Solutions

Things to Consider Before Migrating Your Business to The Cloud

1. Business Goals to Consider Before Migrating to Cloud

Business goals are the primary things that need to be considered, even in the case of cloud migration. A Chief Information Officer (CIO) analyzes how the business will benefit from the migration of the cloud. A thorough risk-benefit analysis is done to help businesses clearly understand the purpose of migrating to the cloud and its alignment with the whole strategic approach. The major concern here is if the cloud technologies are compatible with the legacy system that is currently being used. Another concern is whether any data will get disrupted during the process of cloud migration.

2. Security Measures to Consider Before Migrating to Cloud

Although cloud service companies have robust security and data protection, many business owners still feel jittery thinking about moving their business data to the cloud platform. Many experts concur that sensitive data would be strongly protected in the cloud system as the cloud providers are updated with the latest security compliance and practices. It is critical to ensure that the cloud service providers you choose are authentic and transparent about their services.

3. Compliance Criteria to Consider Before Migrating to Cloud

Along with security, ensuring compliance is also a crucial parameter to consider. Businesses must ensure that the cloud service providers are able to provide their services complying with the regulations of the organization and the county residing in. There may be specific data that may need to be stored in a specific region or some data that may not be allowed to deploy. The business owner should discuss these concerns with the service providers to avoid this hassle.

4. Business Continuity and Disaster Recovery Methods to Consider Before Migrating to Cloud

There are a lot of parameters that need to be considered while migrating to the cloud, especially business continuity and disaster recovery. The following two questions must be answered before making the decision:
What’s the right way to save your data if your cloud provider has problems or a disaster happens?
How would you get back on track?

It is essential to realize when things are not working right and if you have to pay in case it isn’t. These details must be mentioned in the service agreement submitted by the cloud provider.

5. Cost and ROI to be Considered Before Migrating to Cloud

Choosing between cloud and on-premise platforms depends on the cost of running the business infrastructure. Some of the things that come under the infrastructure parameters are hardware, software, fault tolerance, and disaster recovery. Moving to the cloud has one big perk: businesses only need to pay for it as they go. It’s like a flexible and scalable regular expense. The cloud subscription often includes most of the running business expenses.

6. Verification and Support to be Considered Before Migrating to the Cloud

Most businesses may not possess IT teams with the right skills to manage the cloud set-up effectively. It will be beneficial to outsource the cloud setup to Cloud Managed Service Providers (MSps), who are experts in setting up the cloud on business systems. Cloud Management Platform tools like Arcus can also come in handy to manage and enhance cloud-related operations. It can track finances, analyze operations, and adjust them for better cloud outcomes.

Conclusion

Businesses migrating to cloud has now become a significant step as it protects data in cases of natural disasters and other hardware issues that crop up. It has become the need of the hour since the COVID-19 curfew as it promoted remote working access, cut down on costs, and helped effectively manage business operations. There are many more reasons why cloud migration should be adopted other than the ones mentioned earlier in this blog.

Cloud migration planning must be taken seriously and only the best practices must be followed. Cloud consulting company that you choose should have the latest and authentic compliances and certifications to ensure seamless and safe data migration. Business goals, security measures, and methods of disaster recovery & business continuity should be carefully considered before cloud migration.

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