In the present times, there is hardly a business that does not have a workload running on the cloud. In this scenario, companies always aim for workload migration to cloud to decrease the cost of physical resources. The scalability and reliability that is provided by the cloud ecosystem far exceed the functionalities of the physical infrastructure. However, there are also some companies that are yet to migrate to the cloud. This article is aimed at such companies to enable them to explore the risks and benefits of cloud migration.
Benefits of cloud migration
1- If your
applications are over-burdened and cannot deal with an increase in traffic, it
is advisable to move to the cloud environment which provides great scalability
options.
2- The cloud
ecosystem helps in the reduction of operational cost and it is also pivotal to
the maintenance of IT workstations.
3- As the number of
clients increases, there is always a need to increase the business
infrastructure and various processes. This demands additional infrastructure to
be roped in. Cloud ecosystem helps in reducing the infrastructure cost by a
large amount.
4- Practically, it
is not feasible to set up multi-region infrastructure that is spread across
every geography. It is in this scenario that the cloud environment helps in
catering to business processes irrespective of time and space.
5- Various cloud
processes also help to cope up with the growing storage needs that we may be
exposed to over a period of time.
6- A well-organized
cloud ecosystem helps in effective communication with a distributed development
team.
7- In addition to
this, the cloud ecosystem also helps in faster disaster recovery in case of any
contingency in a data center.
8- Any upgrade that may be required periodically is easily possible with the help of cloud systems and processes.
Risks of cloud migration
1- One of the prime
concerns while operating the cloud ecosystem is the handling of sensitive and
essential data. This data is exposed to numerous users and cases of data breach
are not uncommon.
2- Some of the
processes which we operate through the cloud systems may experience a lot of
latency which halts the effective functioning of some of the applications over
the cloud environment.
3- Another concern
that arises while operating through the cloud ecosystem is a relative loss of
control while debugging critical software.
4- There have been
certain instances when noise or unwanted data has been added in the case of the
bi-directional flow of information.
5- Instances of stalling of applications during critical ventures is another drawback of cloud systems which needs to be overcome if cloud processes are to operate in an effective manner.
Concluding remarks
The above benefits
and risks of cloud systems and processes need to be assessed thoroughly before
making the decision of workload migration to cloud. A well-informed decision can go a
long way in determining the compatibility of a business with the cloud
ecosystem.
