Technology has been revolutionised for the better of our businesses and more organisations are transitioning to the Cloud every day. However, there are still a percentage of those who are sceptical on the idea due to a few challenges. We talk to a lot of people and businesses in the same situation so we decided to compile a list of the main things people come to us about and how we think you can overcome them. We’ve kept it short and sweet …

Challenge 1: Financial Cost

Migrating to Cloud costs money – we can’t deny that, however moving to the Cloud can save you money in the long run. But we understand why companies are sceptical at first. There’s the immediate migration cost, possibility of a slow migration, training, bandwidth and a few more disadvantages.

To keep costs as low as possible, you may want to invest in solid a migration plan, after all, preparation is your greatest ally.

Challenge 2: Employee Resistance

Its always said that your attitude can lead to success, therefore when people resist change, it can cause a lot of disruption.

If you want to have a successful migration, it’s best to start at the top. A strong execution in leadership can influence employee engagement, especially when they can clearly outline company goals and business needs. Once people understand the reason behind change, they’re more likely to go along with it.

Challenge 3: Skill Shortage

Having a high-level skill set is what aids a steady transition. Although, this requirement can strike fear into many organisations simply because they do not have the skills, and it’s very difficult to find people that do.

There are two options to overcome this obstacle.

Firstly, you can train your current employees who already have the knowledge of your internal processes with the skills you require to migrate, this can use up valuable time and money albeit worth it in the long run. Secondly, you can hire an external source to work in conjunction with your current team but already with those needed talents.

Challenge 4: Rushing To Adapt

The Cloud has so much to offer in how it can help your organisation many who are not ready to migrate will rush into doing so because of a need to ‘keep up’ with the competition and the current market. The competitiveness limits companies from embracing all that cloud has to offer and making sure its a right fit in the right places.

To overcome this, outline all your needs and requirements from the cloud, research all the different ways you could be using it and may use in the future. This way, you can keep an eye on your goals and using Cloud to your advantage. Once, you’ve understood your needs, you can then move on to the proper training and implementation.

Challenge 5: Application Migration And Downtime

Migrating all your applications to the Cloud is likely to cause downtime, unmatched requirements, consumption, especially if there’s a low network connection. The best way to prepare for these possibilities, is to ensure you have a secure connection and have thoroughly planned this process out.

Challenge 6: Lock-In

Sometimes, a company may find themselves locked into a certain cloud provider. Vendor lock-in can become an issue in cloud computing because it is very difficult to move databases once they’re set up, especially in a cloud migration, which involves moving data to a totally different type of environment and may involve reformatting the data. Also, once a third party’s software is incorporated into a business’s processes, the business may become dependent upon that software.

Companies using cloud computing should make an effort to keep their data portable, or easy to move from one environment to another. They can partially do this by clearly defining their data models and keeping data in formats that are usable across a variety of platforms, rather than formats that are specific to a given vendor.

To ensure you don’t fall into this trap, take caution when purchasing Cloud facilities and make sure they’re compatible with each other.

Challenge 7: Compliance and Security

You’re probably fed-up of seeing GDPR compliance and Security because let’s be honest, it’s been a broken record since 2018. Unfortunately, it is a major challenge within the IT industry and when it comes to Cloud.

Even though Cloud Providers take responsibility for Cloud’s security, they are not responsible for an organisation’s internal security. For example, data applications or servers. This means, you are still required to take the appropriate actions to ensure 100% compliance.

To do this, it’s best to outline your needs and developing a tight security protocol for the Cloud solution. Moreover, ensure that all staff members are fully trained in security. Finally, ensure integration allows authenticate authorised access to any resources without comprising the firewalls.

Challenge 8: Time

Migrating to Cloud can be time-consuming but taking your time and ensuring a transition that is as smooth as possible is worth it as once you are fully set up and running you are able to benefit from all the advantages from Cloud Computing immediately. From here your business can scale up or scale down your operation and storage needs quickly to suit your situation, allowing flexibility as your needs change. You may also have access to automatic updates for your IT requirements as this may be included in your service fee. Depending on your cloud computing service provider, your system will regularly be updated with the latest technology. This could include up-to-date versions of software, as well as upgrades to servers and computer processing power, all of these features can save you time and effort (and money!) in the future.

Looking For More Information?

As we’ve laid out above, there are many challenges to face when it comes to the migration of Cloud Computing. But not to worry, we’ve provided a solution to overcome each challenge. With the right planning, you can address these challenges more quickly and efficiently. The main influence to achieve a successful migration is to be prepared, outline everything that your business needs and how you intend to use cloud to do this.