Statistics indicate that 2020 alone saw 61% of businesses migrate their workload to the cloud, a move necessitated by the many cloud adoption benefits. Unlike on-premise infrastructure, where your company may experience capacity concerns, shifting to the cloud completely eliminates scalability issues.
While migrating to the cloud is expensive, executing it correctly results in an ROI that outweighs the initial investment. Cloud adoption has many rewards, but the associated threats and risks can endanger your business if not appropriately addressed. Below are six common cloud migration risks and threats to watch out for.
1. Security risks
When shifting significant data amounts, human error or technical challenges may result in data loss, or the data may get corrupted or incomplete. To combat data loss concerns, ascertain that your CSP (content security policy) has sufficient restoration and data backup options. During cloud migration, configurations must be specified, meaning the wrong configurations can leave your business vulnerable. While this could be because of malicious intent, it's often due to human error.
With the correct security monitoring solutions in place, your business can keep cloud misconfiguration risks at bay. Since APIs are a communication bridge between software programs and computers, they're a target point for cybercriminals. Additionally, using APIs developed without authentication can expose your company data to anybody on the internet. To address this concern, ascertain that APIs are created with authentication, access control, and encryption.
Ransomware is another cloud migration security threat your company might experience. However, employing cloud malware analysis systems can help safeguard against this threat. Security risks become more magnified if your business uses multiple cloud services. However, implementing multi-cloud security best practices can help deal with the associated multi-cloud complexities.
2. Incompatibility with existing architecture
Your current architecture is a significant concern when migrating to the cloud. Legacy systems are usually complicated and mostly inconsistent with the cloud because they might depend on execution environments or programming languages unavailable or not supported by the cloud. As such, you must ascertain that your existing applications and systems are in harmony with the cloud. This might require:
Rewriting or modifying some code
Testing performance and functionality
Ascertaining that the cloud platform can exchange data and communicate with other platforms and systems
Conducting an in-depth evaluation of your existing applications and systems to unearth any dependencies or gaps, then selecting a cloud platform that your business's integration needs and meets your requirements can help address this problem.
3. Lack of a cloud migration strategy
Most companies start moving to the cloud without directing enough attention and time to develop a cloud migration strategy. Effective cloud adoption requires meticulous end-to-end planning. Every dataset and application might have varying considerations and requirements, necessitating different cloud migration approaches. A clear migration strategy enables you to determine and apply the quickest, most affordable, and least disruptive move to the cloud from on-premises. It also helps identify the current application workloads you can replace or discontinue, the ones to rewrite, and those to stay on-premises.
With a cloud migration plan, determining the workload to move as-is and choosing the right cloud for each application becomes easier. The best cloud migration strategy should be tailored to align with your unique needs to help you attain the desired technical and business outcomes.
4. Inadequate cloud visibility
Getting visibility in cloud environments is complicated enough even with one cloud, which means it's more complex in multi-cloud or hybrid environments. The following are vital issues that could be preventing your company from being visible over cloud workloads:
Blind spots
Your company must focus on the data it's delivering to its monitoring tools because cloud-based assets can become opaque, making them invisible to the cloud monitoring architecture. This creates blind spots that can restrict your capacity to control performance and security. When monitoring blind spots, there's a risk of not getting alerts when there are:
Breaches or security incidents
Compliance issues
Poor app performance
Unforeseeable service disruption
Restricted control over traffic from and to the public cloud
Shifting workloads to public clouds implies losing most of the on-premises controls you had. Cloud providers won't allow you to access the shared infrastructure directly. Also, your traditional monitoring structure will often not function in the cloud. The lack of access to data packets and information therein significantly lowers visibility.
Limited performance and security monitoring
Cloud providers offer log files with information regarding cloud workload activities. The fact that you can use the log files to trigger alerts doesn't assist you in monitoring performance and security concerns. This is because the alerts are insufficient, and analyst teams must investigate them to determine the threat and resolve it.
To investigate these alerts, you need data packet access. Unfortunately, cloud providers offer such a level of information. This limits your company's ability to scrutinize the reason for performance in complicated cloud environments. However, automation and technology, including automated risk analysis, AI and ML-powered advanced analytics, and standardized automation and management, can help boost cloud visibility.
5. High latency
Latency refers to the delays between users' actions and the applications' responses. High latency slows your systems and processes down, leading to a significant loss of work hours and frustrations. It also leads to bad customer experiences. To minimize latency issues when connecting to public clouds, use network assessment solutions to identify the issues in your network.
If your company has teams around the globe, employing distributed cloud infrastructure can help ascertain low cloud applications latency wherever they're. Rewriting legacy applications that were migrated when not fit or designed for the cloud makes them cloud-native, reducing latency concerns.
6. Lack of cloud data governance
Data governance streamlines data collection, use, and storage in the cloud. It balances data and maintains compliance. Vigorous data governance boosts efficiency and lowers security risks. It also enhances data quality and usability. With effective data governance policies, your company can ascertain that information is shared and utilized in a consistent, controlled manner. Implementing data governance programs comes with its challenges, including:
Insufficient resources
Inadequate budget allotment for data governance drives
Lack of senior management commitment
However, implementing data governance best practices can help develop an effective program to help your company attain its goals.
In navigating the complex landscape of cloud computing challenges, it's crucial to implement robust cloud security best practices-from understanding the shared responsibility model to encrypting data and training employees-ensuring a comprehensive approach to safeguarding your organization's digital assets.
Endnote
While shifting your company's workload to the cloud has many rewards, it's also characterized by challenges that can jeopardize your business. However, understanding the common cloud migration risks and threats and how to resolve or avoid them can help ensure a seamless transition.
