Welcome back to part two of our real-life series on moving technology from on-premise systems to the cloud. This post follows up on my previous entry, highlighting additional hidden challenges often encountered during cloud migrations. Many of these issues can in recent years, stem from the maturity of cloud infrastructure, which is now complete with its own established processes and methodologies. Let’s get started:
1. Outdated Methods May No Longer Be Supported
One common challenge arises from previously acceptable practices or technologies becoming obsolete, especially concerning security protocols. Methods that evolved naturally over the years in an on-premise environment may now be explicitly disallowed in the cloud. Whether it’s due to new compliance regulations or discovered security vulnerabilities, practices you’ve relied on for decades might no longer be viable.
It’s essential to collaborate proactively with your security team. Security departments often focus strictly on what is disallowed rather than proposing alternative solutions. Engaging them early in the migration process ensures practical and secure solutions are developed, especially when dealing with existing system integrations and established support procedures.
2. Loss of Assumed Features
When operating on-premise servers, many built-in features are taken for granted, such as logging, connectivity, remote access tools, and even physical infrastructure integrations. Virtual servers, Docker instances, or cloud-based platforms often lack these default features, requiring additional setup or third-party solutions.
A notable real-life example includes systems that rely on physical hardware integrations, like emergency pagers plugged directly into servers. Transitioning such setups to the cloud can become complicated and costly, potentially requiring extensive system rewrites or redesigns.
3. Hidden Re-coding Costs
Migrating legacy systems often involves substantial rewriting. In some cases, the original platform or coding language is unsupported in modern cloud environments, necessitating a full rebuild of the application. These hidden recoding costs can escalate quickly, making a simple “lift-and-shift” virtual machine approach sometimes the only feasible short-term option.
4. Bandwidth and Communication Chatter
On-premise systems often generate substantial communication noise, particularly regarding data storage and retrieval. Because bandwidth was essentially free and readily available locally, efficiency wasn’t a priority. However, in cloud environments, such frequent communication can incur significant costs and performance issues.
Evaluate how your existing systems communicate and store data. Modern cloud solutions may require optimised, efficient communication patterns to avoid inflated expenses and ensure long-term sustainability.
5. Day-to-Day Maintenance Costs
On-premise systems often conceal maintenance costs within periodic capital expenditures, typically every three to four years, covering licenses, hardware, and infrastructure. Conversely, cloud environments shift to recurring monthly costs, which can accumulate unexpectedly if not accounted for upfront.
To avoid financial surprises, thoroughly analyse the ongoing costs of cloud infrastructure, licensing, and resources before migrating. Accurate budgeting helps mitigate unexpected expenses and ensures smoother operational planning post-migration.
Summing Up
Sorry to add more items to the problem of moving to the cloud, but these are worth considering when you work out how you will move an older application to an existing and established cloud platform.