When it comes to data storage, the cloud is touted as one of the most secure options. However, moving to the cloud can introduce a slew of issues that may jeopardize the infrastructure’s security and put it in peril. Here are the top five mistakes that companies should avoid in order to make a safe and easy move to the cloud.

The global expend on public cloud services would soar by 20% to $495 billion in 2022, from $411 billion in 2021, Gartner forecasts. By 2023, this investment is expected to escalate to $600 billion. Another study reports that nearly 80% of companies today utilize cloud services for at least one application. So much happening on the cloud front indicates the cloud’s ever-increasing trajectory and popularity. 

However, everyone faces challenges while shifting to the cloud, whether a major enterprise or a small business. Discover more about these common missteps companies should avoid while transferring workload to the cloud environment today.

Common Mistakes to Avoid While Migrating to Cloud

Lacking a cloud migration strategy 

Several companies have jumped into reaping the benefits of cloud services without devoting enough time or effort to a comprehensive migration strategy. For smooth cloud adoption and deployment, businesses should have an end-to-end migration plan in place. Remember that each dataset or app may require a different transfer strategy. Every workload that is moved to the cloud by the company should have a convincing proposition. 

Gartner’s well-known “5 Rs” recommendations provide handy guidance to cloud migration. Companies considering moving workloads to the cloud should examine which migration method is most suited to their requirements. Below is a quick description of each:

• Rehost: If you choose Rehosting, which uses infrastructure-as-a-service, your old data and apps will simply be re-deployed on the cloud server. Rehosting, often known as the “lift and shift” strategy, is simple to deploy and ideal for businesses that previously resisted cloud solutions. It may also be labeled as a versatile tool since it ensures that apps remain operational while the migration takes place in the event of a code change.

• Refactor: This method ensures that your apps have been patched and upgraded to work in the cloud. This framework covers the platform-as-a-service (Paas) functionality. It also guarantees that the app’s design is preserved even when the services are expanded in response to increased demand.

• Revise: Revising is yet another alternative for companies to consider. This method relies on the app’s previous technology, requiring further changes to the overall infrastructure and cloud-based service development. Revise’s major goal is to make the best use of cloud services possible. As a result, code changes are required. Therefore, this solution necessitates thorough planning and knowledge of the cloud.

• Rebuild: The next is Rebuilding, which is an extended version of Revise. The previous coding standards are eliminated and replaced with new ones. It’s time-consuming and lengthy and should only be employed when existing solutions aren’t meeting a company’s current demands.

• Replace: The Replacing technique can address challenges in the Rebuild solution. Replace encourages firms to use vendor-provided third-party prebuilt software rather than rewriting their program from the start, unlike Rebuild. The only asset required to migrate from the old app is data. Everything else is an overhauled system.

Choosing the wrong vendor

You should pick a cloud vendor with whom you wish to contemplate a long-term partnership until anything goes catastrophically wrong. Ending up with an unsuitable cloud provider can cost a company a lot of money as well as create technical and security issues within the IT infrastructure. On the other hand, finding the perfect fit may make using cloud infrastructure’s potential easier.

So, how can you know which cloud service provider is ideal for your needs? Here are some factors to look at while selecting a cloud service provider:

• Type of cloud service: Check whether the vendor is willing to provide a cloud solution that meets the company’s needs, whether it’s public, private, or hybrid.
• Cloud security: Sift through your security objectives and evaluate the security methods and procedures used by various suppliers to protect apps and data.
• Compliance: Ensure that your chosen vendor conforms with industry and organizational requirements.
• Costs: Compare the cloud players’ pricing structures, sticker price, and related expenses.

Using VPN for remote access

Using a VPN may not be the greatest choice, with most staff working remotely. Do you recall the FireEye data leak in December 2020? The hacker most likely acquired access to the company’s critical components through an unprotected VPN account. The rest, as they say, is history. 

It’s high time we abandon the claim that VPN is secure and enclosed with a trustworthy network. These VPN assertions were based on past network topologies, an obsolete design approach that puts security at risk. Substitute your VPNs with Zero Trust, a set of security concepts more suited to today’s cloud-friendly ecosystems.

Zero Trust advocates that no user, device, or network should be blindly unconditionally, even if it has prior access to corporate resources. This strategy is founded on three principles: suspicion of a breach, validation of the breach, and least privilege access. The VPN design pattern is the polar opposite of the Zero Trust architecture. Furthermore, this concept emphasizes the importance of verifying network access requests, even from the CEO’s end. Verify if the leadership is actually sending the requests.

In conclusion, VPN’s method of trusting everyone has grown outmoded and should not be promoted while shifting to the cloud.

Not following a proper cloud disaster recovery (DR) strategy

Yes, you’re new to the cloud, but it’s always a good idea to be prepared for a rainy day. Even before you relocate to the cloud, start planning for a cloud disaster recovery strategy, no matter how new to your infrastructure. Each organization requires frequent access to its data and the seamless performance of specialized processes. Businesses that deal primarily with data cannot afford to lose it. Hence, a disaster recovery strategy should be implemented.

Let us clarify what a DR is for people unfamiliar with the term. Disaster recovery is a set of ideas, methods, and technologies that aid in the restoration of a company’s vital IT infrastructure and services following a disaster. In layman’s words, it’s a method of retrieving your applications and data after a major disaster.

A cloud disaster recovery is the same idea but with a few differences. It’s a cloud-based service or technology that allows remote PCs and workstations to be backed up and retrieved. Furthermore, it ensures that data is always accessible, processes are constantly functioning, and restoration and redundancy are always safe.

The two most important metrics to consider while creating your company’s DR strategy – are RPO (recovery point objective) and RTO (recovery time objective). During a disaster, these two ways can be used as miraculous instruments. They ensure that businesses may continue to operate without interruption. RPO decides how much data is acceptable to lose in the event of a failure. RTO essentially governs how fast a business may restart operations following a disaster.

Security and compliance 

Cloud migration must be properly planned since it is vulnerable to several threats. During migration, sensitive data is shared, making it susceptible to cyberattacks. At various stages of a migration process, hackers can gain access to unsecured development, testing, or operational environments. Few points to note in terms of security while moving to the cloud:

• Create security objectives and guidelines
• Allocate specialized employees to IAM (identity and access management)
• MFA and other single sign-on tools should be enforced
• Activate monitoring across the entire cloud system
• Configure security in the CSPM (cloud security posture management)

Conclusion

Despite these migration barriers, we can’t dispute that the cloud offers a bevy of advantages. Cybercriminals regularly take advantage of enterprises’ constant propensity toward the cloud in order to assist their employees in gaining remote access to numerous resources. The aforementioned problems are the most prevalent ones to avoid if you want to make a smooth cloud move.