Explore the strategic significance of cloud migration in the current landscape. Uncover key insights on security challenges, misconfigurations, and the repatriation dilemma.
Cloud migration can be labeled as the strategic move of the year. With the ongoing pandemic, exacerbated by a slowing economy, it’s inevitable for any organization to adopt digital transformation. Cloud adoption is the foundation of this transformative journey, which is fast-forwarded.
The global cloud market expects over $1.35 trillion in 2027, and the International Data Corporation predicts that public cloud spending growth is expected to slow slightly over the 2023-2027 forecast period; the market is forecast to achieve a five-year CAGR of 19.9%. This is a relatively small number, with digital migration as a top trend worldwide.
Be forewarned: While cloud adoption has become a standard business model transformation, it comes with shortcomings and security threats.
Misconfiguration Menace
Recently, CISA indicated cybersecurity’s importance in avoiding cloud attacks. Most attacks that some companies have already witnessed stem from poor cloud hygiene, with mixed computing devices in remote working environments. Cloud misconfigurations can spiral out of control and affect customers as well. According to Gartner, 90% of companies that do not control public cloud use will share sensitive data by 2025.
Several companies use infrastructure as code templates to scale applications’ building process and management. These cloud-native applications and practices cause misconfigurations. While incredible speed works in favor of brands, its repercussions are dangerous. The misconfigurations could replicate themselves in the production environment, where sensitive data is usually stored, putting everything at risk.
Experts believe that the main reason for cloud misconfigurations is a hygiene-related responsibility. Some brands need help to demarcate the duties that fall on them, their internal teams, and the cloud provider. The responsibilities go undiscussed and undocumented, and everything is already in chaos when the hammer falls. A shared responsibility model that is transparent and maintained can limit the risks. Considering IaaS or PaaS with its variables, including network, user credentials, resource configurations, workloads, and identity configurations, the responsibility falls on the cloud consumer.
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Experts urge organizations to adopt a holistic cloud security model that addresses security hygiene and shared responsibility, calling it a reversible trend. Situational awareness about how teams utilize the technology and leverage shadow IT and cloud provider APIs is imperative for C-suite executives. Brands must also identify the most dangerous misconfigurations that can harm their business and set a protocol to prevent their existence automatically. A fixed template and controlled practices will automate cloud protection.
Regardless of the brand and the cloud provider’s responsibilities, cloud adoption is a technology where accountability is not black and white. Consumers will always be responsible no matter where discrepancies occur – the brand or the cloud provider. Gartner reveals that by 2025, 99% of cloud security failures will be the customer’s responsibility.
Repatriation Dilemma
Imagine migrating an application to the cloud but leaving behind a key database on-site. The repercussions will drastically slow down customer experience. It is said that when an application is migrated to the public cloud without understanding the service provider, it can cause damage to applications that are still on-site.
An Arlington Research survey of 350 cloud decision-makers revealed that over 70% of the respondents moved their applications back on-premises from the cloud. The number is shocking despite brands understanding the need for cloud computing and considering cloud migration an uphill task. Most respondents cited unanticipated problems as a reason.
Experts reiterate several possible reasons. Companies repatriate because their choice of application for cloud migration was wrong. Not all workloads work wonders on the public cloud. While technical issues might be a problem for repatriation, degrading application performance is also a grave issue for brands. Additionally, a public cloud environment differs from an on-site data center, so brands can expect a different performance level.
Choosing cloud providers and figuring out the public cloud’s expenses is also essential. Brands must weigh their migration strategy with their available funds. An unbalanced decision can cost the company time, revenue, customers, and reputation.
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Experts attribute the need for observational skills to the central problem of repatriation. Brands must figure out the workload attributes in the data centers before they begin the migration process. Insights on the workload performance would help brands decide on cloud migration requirements.
While businesses recognize the strategic value of cloud adoption, they need to plan their cloud journey optimally. A cloud adoption strategy requires an execution plan that is secure and cost-effective. Using the right cloud tools and insights from cloud data models is also necessary to reimagine a digital business innovation.
There are tools in the market that businesses can use to make their cloud journey easier – Accenture released MyNav in 2019 to help brands identify the right cloud solution.
Hybrid Cloud Can Work Wonders
An IDC study reveals that 85% of brands are pursuing or looking to pursue a hybrid cloud strategy. Combining on-premise infrastructures, internal or outsourced clouds, and public clouds from multiple providers might sound overwhelming, but it can strengthen a brand’s digital journey across functions. Several brands consider a hybrid cloud model flexible, cost-saving, and the ultimate solution to a seamless digital migration. Every brand’s ultimate vision is for a full hybrid cloud environment where they can indulge in secure and open web access.
