In recent years, we have witnessed a rapidly growing interest in database migrations to the cloud. According to statistics, in 2024, global spending on cloud infrastructure grew by 19%. While most tech giants invest in AI, the cloud still ranks high in terms of efficiency and return on investment, especially when paired with powerful Magento Hosting solution
This article discusses the most popular cloud migration risks companies face when migration to the cloud emerges on the horizon. How can such risks be avoided? We have collected the ten most likely risks a company will face when transitioning to the cloud in 2025. Let’s get started.
Top 10 Risks of Migration to Cloud
Let’s have a look at the most prevalent risks of cloud migration.
Poor cloud migration strategy
Planning of migration is the key to a successful transition to the cloud. At the beginning, it is essential to discuss the main details of the future migration project. The main questions to answer before migration are the following:
- Will migration be multi-cloud, or does the company want to rely on one provider?
- What will be migrated to the cloud, and what will remain on-premises?
- Do you choose a hybrid migration? If yes, keep in mind that careful strategy is crucial here
Furthermore, it is essential to consider your company’s industry. Remember that GDPR standards do not allow healthcare and finance organizations to store sensitive data on the cloud.
Security and Compliance
Migration to the cloud can put confidential data at risk and highlight system vulnerabilities. This is why it is extremely important to consider whether cloud technology complies with modern cloud security standards, privacy laws, and regulations.
Depending on the industry a company operates in, different regulations should be considered. For example, if a company is connected to the medical field, it will be regulated by GDPR and HIPAA. Since such a database will store confidential patient data, the company will need to ensure the data transfer is safe and doesn’t pose any leakage risks.
Management of costs
Migrating to the cloud implies long-term savings. Companies no longer need to pay for on-premises equipment, avoiding upfront investments in on-premises hardware. What is more, cloud infrastructure offers a pay-as-you-go model that includes even greater cost savings.
Data migration loss
One of the main migration fears is losing data. How can we ensure that the data migration will be safe and sound? It is important to conduct regular data integrity checks before, during, and after migration.
Adhere to solid data verification and error-detecting methods to avoid risks of cloud migration and data integration problems. Also, setting up robust backup systems is crucial to safeguarding data integrity.
Downtime and service interruptions
Most often, downtimes occur due to poor cloud migration strategy, technical errors, and system incompatibility. How to avoid downtime?
- Migration strategy. It goes without saying that the strategy should take into account factors such as database size, migration steps, and timeline.
- Testing before conducting a migration project
- Implying phased migration method to minimize migration problems
- Migrating database during off-peak hours to minimize disruption of business operations
- Having a rollback plan
Vendor Lock-In
Vendor lock-in is one reason companies prefer to migrate their systems to the cloud. Over time, organizations may become addicted to a specific vendor’s products and services. This situation may affect an organization’s flexibility and prevent it from upgrading its own systems.
The risk is quite challenging to avoid. However, various recommendations can help to prevent such a scenario:
- Multi-cloud or hybrid-cloud migration strategy
- Regular backup of your systems
- Design your cloud architecture with portability in mind
Skill gaps in cloud expertise
The skill set required to successfully maintain cloud infrastructure is different from those necessary to keep systems on-premises. That is why you should be prepared, as unskilled staff may create additional security risks and inefficient resource use. Before conducting a migration project, it may be necessary to organize additional training for your employees to ensure they have the necessary skills and knowledge. Be prepared because this may lead to security risks and efficient resource use.
Infrastructure compatibility
The challenge with legacy systems is that they are often incompatible with modern cloud solutions. They lack cloud adaptability, which makes the migration process complex.
Companies need to carefully study company assets before starting the migration:
- Assessing the current infrastructure and software to pinpoint possible dependencies and complexities that hinder the migration
- Creating a suitable migration strategy based on the assessment results
Network performance and connectivity
Cloud systems heavily rely on network performance and connection capacity. Insufficient performance can degrade the performance of cloud products, especially those that must process data in real time.
To avoid such troubles, you need to improve your network and connection. The best recommendation is to implement a CDN. In addition, a practical solution is to place cloud servers as close as possible to end users, which will help reduce latency.
Data governance
To reduce security risks connected with data governance, you should follow the recommendations:
- Reduce unauthorized access and accountability by limiting user access personally.
- Encryption is always a great idea. It gives you extra security for confidential data.
- Contracts with vendors should be analyzed and negotiated. Striking some favorable terms could help you reduce cloud vulnerability.
Conclusion
In this article, we have analyzed the most critical risks associated with cloud migration. This article will help you overcome all the risks and help you better determine your cloud migration strategy.
