Cloud Migration: Common Pitfalls and How to Avoid Them

A guide for enterprises and organizations that want to leverage the benefits of cloud computing without compromising on aspects such as performance, security, operational efficiencies, and cost.

Introduction

The cloud migration journey is the phenomenon of moving data, applications, and other IT resources from on-premises or legacy infrastructure to a cloud platform such as Microsoft Azure or Amazon Web Services (AWS). Cloud migration offers many advantages for enterprises and organizations, including scalability, cost-efficiency, innovation, and business agility. However, this kind of infrastructure shift also comes with its own set of challenges and risks, and a variety of factors can all result in a failed cloud migration. Therefore, it is essential to execute the cloud migration journey with proper planning, coordination, and adherence to a well-defined cloud adoption framework. This blog post will explore the potential pitfalls of cloud migration, as well as RSM’s recommendations for how to avoid them.

Top Reasons for Cloud Migration Failures

Unfortunately, cloud migration failure rates fall somewhere between 44 and 57%, according to RSM research. In addition, 62% also reported that the cloud journey is more difficult than they imagined, and 41% moved apps to the cloud when it later became apparent that they should have stayed on premises. The following can be considered the four key factors contributing to these failures:

1. A lack of planning and stakeholder alignment:
   • Without a clear understanding of why and how an organization wants to migrate to the cloud, the migration process can become chaotic, inefficient, and ineffective.
   • An organization should define its objectives, scope, timeline, budget, and expected outcomes of the cloud migration, as well as the roles and responsibilities of the stakeholders involved.
   • An organization should also assess its current IT environment and identify the applications and data that are suitable for cloud migration, as well as the ones that need to be modified, replaced, or retired.
2. Not performing comprehensive cost analysis and vetting:
   • Understanding cloud costs can be challenging for an organization that does not have prior experience operating in the cloud. Without proper analysis, the migration process can lead to numerous unforeseen expenses.
   • Ensuring that key decision-makers understand the definitions and implications of the various cloud cost consumption models, including aspects of pay-as-you-go and reservations.
   • An organization needs to be highly mindful about the total cost of ownership, especially in the realm of current and future cloud resource demands.
   • Establishing ongoing cloud cost management, accountability, visibility, and alerting are critical for successfully migrating to the cloud and continuing to operate there for the long haul.
3. Not having the right people, partners, and operating model in place:
   • Without the right people who have the necessary skills and knowledge about cloud technologies, the migration process can face numerous technical challenges. This can lead to inefficient use of cloud resources, increased costs, and potential security risks.
   • Partners play a crucial role in providing the necessary tools, services, and support for a successful cloud migration. If the chosen partners are not reliable or experienced in the cloud migration process, it can also result in a variety of challenges when trying to migrate to the cloud.
   • An efficient operating model is critical for successfully migrating to and operating within a cloud environment. Not having one can lead to several operational inefficiencies especially in terms of the talent, processes, tools, policies, and governance needed to sustain operational excellence. It can hinder the ability to fully leverage the benefits of cloud technologies, such as scalability, flexibility, and cost-effectiveness.
   • Without a clear strategy and plan, an organization can face unexpected challenges and costs during the migration process. This includes potential downtime, data loss, and compatibility issues with existing systems.
   • If an organization does not have the right expertise or partners to handle security and compliance requirements in the cloud, it can expose the business to significant risks. This includes potential data breaches, non-compliance penalties, and other harmful incidents.
4. Not embracing the significance of cloud foundational architecture at the onset:
   • Not placing great emphasis and attention to the cloud architecture and land zone design and deployment at the onset can result in migration failures and operational deficiencies post-migration.
   • Lack of attention to establishing the best-suited design principles and foundational design structure of the cloud.
   • A landing zone that is well-architected and in solid alignment with an organization’s operating structure will reap mission-critical benefits such as architecture scalability and consistency, faster resource migrations and acquisitions, automation and provisioning, cost management, security and compliance, support excellence.

How to Avoid the Pitfalls of Cloud Migration

Key best practices and recommendations that can help an organization avoid the pitfalls of its cloud migration journey include, but are not limited to, the following:

1. Proper planning, effective collaboration, and having a Journey Champion in place:
   • Establishing proper planning and embracing a strategic, forward-looking mindset.
   • Embracing effective collaboration and promoting visibility.
   • Having solid, overarching stakeholder buy-ins and designating a Journey Champion.
2. Aligning the cloud migration with the business goals and strategy:
   • Ensuring that the cloud migration is driven by business needs and objectives, rather than by technology trends or vendor preferences.
   • Aligning the cloud migration with an organization’s overall IT strategy and architecture, as well as with its operational structure and change management.
3. Invoking a data-driven cost analysis and decision-making process:
   • Being highly mindful and diligent of Total Cost of Ownership, especially in the realm of current and future demands, along with establishing cost accountability, visibility, and alerting.
   • Leveraging cloud migration tools and services to help assess, migrate, test, and optimize cloud resources.
4. Following the cloud migration best practices and guidelines:
   • Following the cloud migration best practices and guidelines provided by Microsoft and other reputable sources, such as the Cloud Adoption Framework for Azure, the Azure Migration Guide, and the Azure Well-Architected Framework.
   • These resources can help an organization plan, execute, and optimize the cloud migration process, as well as avoid common mistakes and pitfalls.
   • It is highly essential for an organization to deploy a cloud architecture that is best suited for the business, its design principles, along with not overlooking the importance of security, network infrastructure, testing, and disaster recovery.
5. Partnering with experts and embracing simplicity:
   • Seeking advice and assistance from cloud migration experts and partners, such as cloud journey consultants cloud architects from RSM.
   • These experts can help an organization design, implement, and manage the cloud migration process, as well as provide technical and operational support, training, and troubleshooting.
   • Formulating an A-Team, addressing the skills and training gaps, and working with trusted partners are essential for a successful cloud migration.
   • Embracing simplicity and progressing iteratively with feedback along the way for the best possible cloud migration experience.

Conclusion

Cloud migration can be a complex and challenging undertaking, however it can also be a rewarding and beneficial one, if done properly and strategically. By avoiding the common pitfalls and following best practices and proven recommendations, organizations can successfully migrate to a cloud-based platform and enjoy the advantages of cloud computing, such as scalability, flexibility, cost-efficiency, innovation, and business agility.

Contact us

Interested in learning more about migrating to the cloud? Reach out to an RSM expert:

Swanston Benjamin: Swanston.Benjamin@rsmus.com

Swanston Benjamin

Swanston is a Director and Cloud Journey Lead within RSM’s Managed IT Cloud and Infrastructure (MCI) service line, with a focus on the discovery, planning, design, implementation, and transition of our clients’ cloud journey. As a first-choice advisor, he leads from the front in developing strategies, business cases, roadmaps, operating models, architectural designs, staffing models, and other service delivery elements to help clients reimagine themselves and ultimately realize the true promise of their cloud adoption journey.