Avoid These 5 Pitfalls With Your Cloud Computing Solutions

For a long time, many companies were more than a little hesitant to invest in digital transformation. Leaders either sought more assurance that the investment would pay off or feared drastically altering operations. When the pandemic hit, however, leaders in nearly every organization realized that digitization became almost mandatory. Suddenly, every industry needed digital products and services to maintain operations, engage customers, and reach revenue goals.

In this quick switch, many organizations turned to cloud computing, and for good reason: The cloud provides the ability to streamline business processes through IT as well as streamline IT processes across lines of business, offering more agility and flexibility to adapt to new market trends and the changing business landscape. Cloud computing solutions also offer backup and recovery services to protect companies from downtime should disaster strike. What’s more, moving to the cloud requires no new hardware, allowing companies to save on equipment costs and reduce their data center footprint.

So with all these benefits of cloud computing, what’s the problem? Cloud computing solutions themselves aren’t a turnkey for transformation. Making the migration blindly can cause problems that diminish the advantages a business sought to gain from moving to the cloud in the first place.

Challenges of Cloud Computing

Watch out for the following challenges of cloud computing, so you’ll know how to overcome them and get the biggest bang for your buck in your own migration:

1. Lack of Buy-In

Organizations sometimes move ahead with the migration to cloud computing solutions prior to securing buy-in from all lines of business. Include a member of each team or department in the decision and migration plan to ensure everyone understands the full benefits of cloud computing and agrees with the move. With the buy-in of members from every area of business, you’ll likely find greater acceptance among the organization at large upon implementation.

2. Mass Migration

Misconceptions about cloud computing abound, and one of the most common involves workloads. Not everything benefits from running on the cloud. Assess which workloads or applications will benefit from migration by reviewing the current state, performance requirements, physical dependencies, and security requirements of each element. You’ll see which will need to be altered for adjusting to the cloud and which might be better off without it.

3. Talent Deficiencies

Implementing cloud computing solutions or migrating on-premise applications without technical expertise isn’t ideal. To take full advantage of cloud computing, you’ll need the right skills. While cloud computing digital transformation consulting services can help fill the talent gap, you’ll also want staff experienced in the cloud platform or application of choice to ensure a smooth migration, proper management, and necessary customization.

4. Technical Issues

The cloud-based environment isn’t a “set it and forget it” venture. It requires ongoing management, maintenance, and monitoring. Do your research to find the right cloud monitoring tools to facilitate this process. Some will be full-stack enterprise solutions, while others will be more specialized in nature and can be configured to meet your specific needs.

5. Climbing Costs

Though one of the main benefits of cloud computing may be IT cost savings, there is the need for continual cost optimization review. Otherwise, you may find costs spiraling out of control. Schedule frequent reviews of your cloud computing solutions to ensure the cost isn’t climbing to unmanageable levels.

Addressing each of these challenges in-house can be a lot of pressure for IT teams, especially those at companies with fewer resources. What’s more, those teams must be ready to maintain ongoing cloud management and optimization for years to come. Many organizations may find that they simply don’t have the time, money, or human resources available to keep up with cloud computing adequately. Fortunately, organizations can turn to third-party providers to outsource cloud migration and management, expediting the process and relieving the pressure on existing teams.

To learn more about how CTG can help businesses overcome the challenges of cloud computing and move digital transformation forward, check out this case study.