Cloud Hosting – NYC

What is Cloud Hosting Migration?

The process involves moving applications, data, or other business processes from an on-premises system to the cloud. The majority of companies believe that cloud migration is difficult and challenging, therefore aren’t keen on the process. The complexity of cloud migration depends on the number of resources supported by each project. When you consider the benefits of cloud computing, the complexity and difficulties can be avoided.

What are the benefits of Cloud Hosting Migration?

Why is it that we require cloud services instead of our existing environment? To address the question above, we’ve provided some of the advantages that businesses can reap by moving their resources to the cloud:

Cost: By moving to the cloud, you can cut operational costs while enhancing IT processes. Cloud providers employ the “Only pay for the services you use” method, which allows companies to avoid maintaining expensive data centers when their environment is hosted on the cloud.

Performance: Cloud providers operate globally with world-class network facilities, storage services, databases, servers, etc. In an on-premise environment, you must be aware of every aspect of performance. In cloud computing, many cloud service providers focus on optimizing performance, so you don’t need to write performance specifications. All you need to do is use them.

Scalability & Monitoring

Scalability: Cloud hosting migration gives your business the ability to scale up or down depending on your system’s requirements. For instance, AWS offers an autoscaling option for customers' cloud servers. If you enable auto-scaling for your server, management, costs, and optimization become more complex.

Monitoring: Cloud service providers offer monitoring tools like AWS CloudWatch, Site 24×7, and more. These services alert you when a feature or server is experiencing issues or interruptions. The built-in monitoring tools help you save time compared to manually monitoring your system’s health.

Backup and Recovery

Recovery, Backup, and Failover: Cloud providers generally ensure business continuity by offering integrated, one-click backup and recovery capabilities. Some providers also offer the option of storing backups across different geographical regions.

Security

Security: Cloud services can offer greater security than on-premise data centers when security tools are used correctly. Cloud providers offer many security features, such as monitoring, logging, vulnerability management, threat intelligence, and more. The shared responsibility model is essential in security. Cloud providers are responsible for the "security of the cloud", while customers are responsible for "security within the cloud". Everyone must take responsibility for their role. Cloud providers also have certifications for compliance with rules and regulations, such as ISO27001, PCI-DSS, AICPA/SOC, and HIPAA. This ensures that if your business has specific security requirements, your data is secure in the cloud. If you insist on storing data on-premises, the security of your system is your responsibility.

5 Common Cloud Hosting Migration Challenges

Cloud migrations can be challenging and risky. We’ve identified five major cloud migration challenges that you must consider before beginning the process:

• The Human Component: When cloud migration is successful, it’s typically the people using cloud services who face the biggest challenges. DevOps Engineers and System administrators comfortable with on-premise environments may resist the change. One of the biggest challenges is finding and training individuals with the necessary skills for a successful migration. Education for teams and cloud technology awareness is crucial for the transition to cloud computing.


• Absence of a Plan: A cloud migration plan is crucial. Businesses must organize, prioritize, and account for all necessary steps. Without a plan, cloud migration can become difficult.

Cost Management

Management of Costs: Cost can be both a benefit and a problem during cloud migration. Cloud providers offer newer technology, but it can be costly, and over-budget situations are common. To avoid this, cloud providers offer budget management services, alerts, and notifications. Any company planning to migrate to the cloud should use these services.

Picking the Right Cloud Service: AWS, Azure, and Google offer a range of applications and services. Not all cloud services meet every business need. Choosing the wrong service could add unnecessary costs and security issues. It's important to consult with cloud service providers and let them assess your current systems.

Security

Privacy and Security of Data: Every company has sensitive information stored within its system. Companies want to protect this data from leaks and losses, just as they would with on-premise systems. Cloud providers follow a shared responsibility model, meaning they are responsible for securing their infrastructure, and the user is responsible for securing their data. While cloud providers offer security services, it’s the user's responsibility to configure them correctly. The migration process itself also poses security risks, as transferring sensitive information and managing access control across multiple environments can be complex. Companies need to design proper access control systems to ensure a secure cloud migration.

Cloud Migration Process

We’ve outlined a set of questions to help you in the process of migrating to the cloud. These are general questions and can be expanded based on the complexity of your infrastructure:

Assess

• What is the software architecture of your on-premise environment?


• What are the monthly, weekly, and daily costs?


• How do you meet the security standards for your business?


• What are the main advantages of migrating to the cloud?


• What are the risks of migration?

Plan for Cloud Hosting

• What are the steps in your migration plan?


• Are there any useful cloud-based services you can use for your business?


• What is the estimated cost, and what is the migration timetable?


• Would you like to simulate the migration? What steps should you take?


• What are the challenges of simulating migration? What solutions do you have?

Execute

• Can you migrate your application’s code easily?


• Can you migrate your database without issues?


• Do you have CI/CD pipelines to help with the cloud migration process?


• Are you testing all functions and apps in your cloud environment?


• Do your engineers have the ability to adapt to your cloud migration? What evidence do you have?

Optimize

• How can you ensure the security of your information in the cloud?


• Are you analyzing the costs of cloud storage? What steps can you take to reduce costs?


• What are the best ways to track, analyze, and document your cloud environment?


• How can you stay current with the latest software versions?


• How can you ensure reliability, availability, and efficiency in the cloud?