The document outlines 5 common mistakes made when migrating to the cloud: 1) Forgetting to analyze business needs and goals before migrating, 2) Not thoroughly analyzing applications to determine suitability for migration, 3) Underestimating training needs for IT staff on cloud technologies, 4) Downplaying the costs involved in migrating data and applications to the cloud, and 5) Thinking in outdated "legacy" mindsets rather than adapting to cloud-oriented strategies. Proper planning, analysis of applications and costs, training, and moving beyond legacy thinking are keys to a successful cloud migration.

1. 5 Mistakes to Avoid
When Migrating to The Cloud

2. Content
• Overview
• Forgetting Business Analysis
• Not Analysing Apps Before Migration
• Training
• Downplaying Costs
• Legacy Thinking

3. Overview
• Mistakes in business aren’t only time-consuming, they can also be very expensive.
Depending on the severity of the overlook, it can also be a massive impediment in
the face of moving forward. With anything tech-related this can be true, but it is
particularly relevant when it comes to cloud migrations.
• Business executives can be weary or downright dismissive of large-scale cloud
migrations due to missteps or even stop trusting their most senior IT professionals.
Cloud migration is a whole new strategy that impacts the way businesses need to
think about and handle data storage, resource allocation and development among
other things. The way businesses are run in the cloud is different and changes
need to be made in required skills, processes and the way professionals work.

4. Forgetting Business Analysis
• Bypassing or forgetting business analysis before diving head first into a cloud
migration is a big mistake. When there’s no thought out business case,
organisations don’t know what the actual benefits of a migration would be. Will it
save the organisation money? Why are you doing it?
The most important questions to ask are:
• Which migration tools are best for you?
• What is your main goal, do you want apps to run faster or cheaper?
• How can you optimize your apps to run faster/cheaper?
What you need to keep in mind as a business, is that the cloud is not a strategy in
itself, it’s more of a tactic toward your business strategy and objectives. You need
to make sure that executives in your business also understand the benefits. Rather
than assuming they’re aware of the positive aspects make sure you explain it to
them.

5. Not Analyzing Apps Before Migration
Don’t try to do too much when you’re migrating to the cloud.
Keep things minimal at first, with a reduced number of
applications. To analyse your portfolio of apps, split them
into two groups: the ones you’re going to replace and the
ones you’re going to replace.
For example, it wouldn’t make sense to migrate an email
application that’s on-site when you could start using a cloud-
based one like Office 365.
Companies have failed previously for failing to test their move completely. It’s one
thing testing how data will be migrated, but it also needs to be coupled with finding
out how it reacts when it needs restoration. Remember to test the whole process
thoroughly so as not to be left in the lurch when something comes up.

6. Training
When it comes to knowledge of cloud
migration, not a lot of your IT staff will know
much about it and bringing new cloud-
specific staff on-board can drive your costs
up. However, if you decide to stick with the
staff you already have, lack of knowledge
can mean that your project will run longer
than expected.
What you can do is to train your IT
professionals. They need to understand how
it works and how to modernize applications.
This will allow your business to take
advantage of cloud services to its full extent.

7. Downplaying Costs
The cloud comes with great cost savings, which is one of the
main attractive points of migrating. Organisations no longer
have to pay IT professionals to deal with expensive data
centers, purchase as much hardware, etc. However, some
underestimate the cost of a cloud migration.
IT managers need to consider the cost of moving storage
and data, which is the most costly aspect of a migration. It’s
more of a people cost than anything, as they need to
estimate and consider how long it will take to migrate data.
Another thing to consider is that employees will be
distracted doing other tasks during a migration and projects
may be postponed due to it. Staff used doing certain tasks
prior to the cloud now need to be reallocated to other
departments or job roles.
However, once it’s done employees will have been freed of
having to do mundane tasks and will be able to focus on
more relevant and productive ones.

8. Legacy Thinking
This area stems from training and your staff needs to
shift from legacy thinking. All thinking processes need
to be changed as the cloud isn’t simply picking up an
application and dropping it in. The most important
benefit to enterprises is taking advantage of its
services like mobile back-end services and
performance management services. It’s not all about
cheap storage!
What it comes down to is re-thinking strategies that
have been used for the past couple of decades.
Moving beyond legacy thinking will help IT managers
avoid a major pitfall of cloud migrations.

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