#cloud migiration

Do cloud migrations fail? Yes, they do, if you make one or more of these mistakes!

There is a mismatch between your need and the cloud/cloud services provider

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The cloud can mean many things to many organizations. IaaS, PaaS, SaaS or the more modern as-a-service offerings of the cloud — which one is best for the specific needs of your organization?

Moreover, different cloud vendors have different kinds of service offerings. Each one offers a different type of package, has different pricing ranges, different types of tools and so on. Picking the right cloud and the right cloud service offering is, therefore, a crucial part of ensuring that your cloud migration is a success.

2. The organization isn’t ready for the digital transformation

Cloud adoption is nothing short of transformative. Therefore, you will need to be prepared for it to bring with it changes — to your processes, operations, workflows and more. Keep your organization’s main business objective front and center of your cloud migration process and define the specific changes this will bring — not only in terms of benefits.

You will no longer have as many legacy systems or on-premise infrastructure to maintain, but you will also need to account for the management of databases, application servers, etc. on the cloud. For this, you may need to hire new or train your existing IT and support staff. You will need to find out which of your applications need to be modernized, and how. You will need to consider the changes in timelines, make budgetary adjustments to optimize costs, and so on.

3. Cloud security hasn’t been accounted for

You may have heard some people say that they have enhanced security on the cloud. You may have heard still others say that security is their biggest concern when they think about migrating to the cloud. Which one do you believe?

There are plenty of myths that surround the topic of cloud security. However, the truth is that cloud security is a shared responsibility — of the provider, the customer, and all the users involved. That is why, while the cloud service provider will have security measures in place, it is also important for the organization to consider a good Identity and Access Management (IAM) solution and other cloud security solutions before executing the cloud migration.

4. Everything is being moved at once

When it comes to cloud migration, slow and steady is the way to go! Once you have a cloud migration strategy in place, it is generally better to implement it in phases rather than all at once.

In this way, you can always monitor, review, adjust and apply lessons learned as you progress. This, in turn, leaves much less room for failure. If done right, you can carry out your cloud migration process in the most cost-effective and beneficial way possible.

5. There is no reason for the cloud migration

Cloud migration can be a challenging task to go about, but it is often worth the effort! However, it is only worth the effort if you have analyzed and foreseen tangible benefits to be reaped. For this, you will need to define your business objectives for the next 3 years, compare the costs of achieving them — both with and without cloud migration, and learn how exactly the cloud can help you achieve the goals you have set and to what extent.

To effectively do this, it is best to work with a cloud consulting company which can help you understand the implications of cloud migration on your business in terms of efficiency and revenue.

Once you have decided to move your business to the cloud, a comprehensive testing plan is crucial for the cloud migration’s success. It will ensure that you do not face server breakdown issues, database errors and other glitches which can impede a successful migration to the cloud.

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QA Focus for Cloud Migration Success

The main focus of cloud migration testing is on the various validations required to ensure its success.

Functional Testing

In functional validation, the production-readiness of the migrated applications is tested. A detailed analysis is performed for its various aspects and checked for SLA-compliance. To ensure the success of your cloud migration, perform end-to-end validation of the applications’ functions.

Check whether a valid input gives the desired output.

Check whether service integrations with other applications are complete.

Check whether object references are working as expected.

Check whether cross-platform compatibility is ensured.

Integration Testing

Ensuring your applications are integrated seamlessly with third-party applications and that the communication between them is happening without errors is an integral part of migration testing. Chalk out the dependencies between applications, and the different SLAs that each application comes with. If you are integrating multiple applications, the cloud migration process tends to become more complicated. Consider the following validations to simplify the process.

What interfaces and systems should be covered for integration testing?

What are the resources needed for validation and integration testing?

What plan is in place to develop and execute tests with third-party components?

How will you identify coordination problems in the cloud environment?

Several cloud providers also provide integration validation as an add-on to their services, which can help ensure error-free integration testing.

Security Testing

Initially, the biggest deterrent for organizations to move their operations to the cloud was concern over security. Backed by several advancements in the field, cloud security now comes with features that can prevent even sophisticated attacks from gaining access to your data and applications. Consider the following while you perform security validation:

Ensure that your cloud network can be accessed only by authorized users.

Keep in place preventive measures against common attacks, and ensure that the measures are working properly.

Validate data security at rest, in use, and during transit.

A few other aspects of security testing include data security, privacy testing, application security, and business process security.

Performance Testing

Assessing the performance and response time of the applications moved to the cloud is important for determining cloud migration success. This step will also help in optimizing the workload across resources. Here are a few things you need to consider while performing performance validation.

Check whether the application’s architecture is supported by the cloud.

Validate response times as per SLAs.

Perform load testing in parallel to understand how your services perform under various load types.

Despite having all the help that organizations can get on paper, cloud migration is often tricky to execute and can result in more problems than benefits if executed incorrectly. Therefore, it is advisable to bring a team of testing professionals on board for a successful cloud migration.

The RightScale ‘State of the Cloud’ survey has revealed that managing cloud spend is becoming a growing challenge for many businesses. It is true — while migrating to the cloud is essentially a move to cut down IT infrastructure and maintenance costs, careless mistakes in cloud maintenance can fritter away the benefits gained.

Here are five points that can help you take control of your cloud spend:

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Stop paying for services you don’t need

In the cloud, everything is available on demand. This makes it easy to add services and users in a matter of minutes. As the first step to cost-cutting, make sure you are not still subscribed to (and paying for) the services you don’t need anymore.

Shut down unused instances

IT workers often spin up new instances for short-term use and simply forget to turn them off when finished. Get rid of inactive storage, set expiration dates on temporary workloads, and even consider shutting down workloads for a few hours daily if needed.

Watch out for anomalies

Has there been a sudden spike in costs, or do you see a recurring high cost on a monthly basis? Get to the bottom of the problem to make sure there are no misconfigurations that may lead to a rise in network costs.

Analyze your network traffic

Compute costs for smaller machines are lesser than those of larger ones, so downsizing your machines based on the need may be a good way to get started. High network traffic outside your local network may also be a telltale sign of a security breach, so setting up alerts can help you catch them early.

Re-examine your stored data

This may not be possible all the time, but set aside time to go through the data you have stored on the cloud and clear out what will never be required or useful again. Watch out for and avoid redundant data — the same data in multiple places — unless it is absolutely necessary.

The bottom line: Monitor usage on a regular basis

All of the above points lead to this one — the need to take a systematic approach to cloud management and monitor your usage on a periodic basis. This is important because cloud costs often depend not only on volume but also on time durations.

Technology is one of the fastest evolving parts of our lives in the 21st century. Under the extremely large umbrella that is ‘technology’, cloud computing is an area that is transforming at an exceptional speed. What does 2019 have in store for enterprises using cloud technology? Here are a few of the cloud computing trends we can expect in 2019.

Hybrid Cloud Environments will still be widely used

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While ‘migration to the cloud’ is no longer an emerging trend, and is widely adopted, legacy applications which still use on-premise systems and servers haven’t completely moved to the cloud. Until companies have completed migrating all their applications to the cloud, hybrid cloud environments will still be widely used in 2019. As cloud computing costs are reducing, companies still have to consider the general trend of the cost and ensure that they are fully aware of cost-optimization trends which suit the needs of their organization.

Companies will allocate higher budgets for Backup and Data Recovery solutions

With zettabytes of data being generated by large enterprises, more money, resource and time will be allocated to sophisticated and high-end data recovery and backup services. Now that companies have a handle on how secure the cloud can be when strong security measures are implemented, companies have business critical data stored, and applications hosted, on the cloud. Any glitch during operations can put those data and applications at risk. Therefore, it is crucial to have the data backed up at regular intervals.

Data Fabrics will see faster growth

With the cloud allowing companies to deploy applications universally, the usage of data fabrics is all set to grow in 2019. Data Fabrics is an architecture which can provide consistent capabilities when it comes to accessibility. Like we mentioned earlier, the hybrid cloud will still be the most widely used model across organizations. This means that companies have to unify data access across devices and locations and provide a homogenous experience to all its users. This is exactly what Data Fabrics allows companies to do. It complements the overall service oriented efforts of organizations.

Emerging technologies will use the cloud more efficiently

Developing technology concepts like AI, IoT, wearable tech and automation will use cloud computing to come out with breakthroughs like never before. The future is moving towards making lives easier for humans and cloud computing will be an integral part of it. On its own, the benefits of cloud computing might seem impressive, but ordinary. But if we combine it with tech like IoT and Artificial Intelligence, it suddenly becomes truly revolutionary. There is no other means of data storage and universal hosting that can match the cloud. And growing industries and technologies will be sure to capitalize on this in 2019.

Cloud Security will become more powerful and widely used

Cloud security solution providers will use novel protocols and innovative architecture to provide companies with robust and virtually impenetrable security solutions. With data breaches becoming increasingly common, 2019 will see companies investing more in cloud security solutions which will effectively prevent security threats. Akku, the cloud security solution from CloudNow, exemplifies this high prioritization of security and control among organizations.

The most remarkable benefit of cloud migration is the capability to facilitate a seamless model of operations for a large number of users and customers; at the same time, it enables firms and enterprises to lower their operational costs and open up channels of access to innovative features and applications, much more quickly.

Recognizing the use of the cloud as a business asset has been transformative for banking firms. This once-gradual change is now accelerating and permeating through central applications, strategic plans, and core systems. With IaaS and PaaS systems unleashing the true scope of their capabilities, all aspects of the financial sector are now subject to radical change, growth, and improvement.

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In light of this inevitable shift into a new era, it is imperative that a banking firm takes a step back to look at the larger picture: what its position is in the current ecosystem, where it could be in the long run, and the role that technology will play in enabling this journey. Certain banks may opt for specific cloud solutions, while others feel that this may be the right time to transform into a completely digital organization. Let’s explore the fundamental reasons why migrating to the cloud has enabled banks to stay ahead of the curve.

Why migrate to the cloud?

Cutting down on costs

Banks can rapidly cut down on costs by migrating to the cloud; it helps them take a more focused, aggressive approach which in turn, enables them to stay ahead of the curve. Moreover, because cloud applications are accessible from any location, they help firms increase their productivity. A connected workforce is instrumental in helping a firm get more for their investment in each employee.

Rapid Deployment, Expansion, and Innovation

Banking is a crowded, cluttered, and highly competitive industry; today, when customers are more connected and demanding than ever before, banks must continuously innovate in order to keep customers engaged and stay ahead of the curve.

On the cloud, developers can set up a fully operational server within a few minutes and get applications ready for testing in a matter of weeks. This level of efficiency allows banks to create newer, better and faster applications than competitors who continue to rely on on-premise development practices. Banks that migrate to the cloud have a greater chance of appealing to customers who value innovation, accessibility, economy, and speed.

Crucial Insights and Personalized Services

Traditional banking systems are limited in their capability to provide real-time analytics and results, as well as gain key insights. Recognizing transaction patterns and anomalies enables banks to create a more personalized experience for their customers, with timely offers. The outdated model of gaining a better understanding of customers is to group them using common denominators such as age, location, and other demographics; these categories are too universal to apply to modern customers, who expect customized and fast services.

Today, ensuring that your customers have frictionless, smart, and secure ways of receiving services and purchasing products, is crucial. By embracing the cloud, banks are empowered to provide personalized experiences to their customers, get their feedback on a regular basis, and address any grievances that they might have.

A transparent and comprehensive self-appraisal is crucial for banking firms; it informs the analysis of various options for adopting the cloud and the cloud strategy, including regulatory guidelines, risks, and security concerns. An essential part of the analysis involves a detailed perusal of the current ecosystem, assessing strategic and infrastructure partners, in addition to suppliers of specific cloud-based solutions.

In today’s ecosystem, many banks are affected by stagnation as a result of outdated architecture lacking the efficiency of a cloud-based solution. As an experienced Cloud migration service provider, CloudNow ensures that your migration to the cloud platform and aligning of applications is seamless, with powerful automated services in place. Cloudnow Technologies offers Cloud migration services and Cloud migration consulting services for their clients. Banking firms that transform into digital players by putting technology at the forefront of their operations can reap significant benefits, but there is no greater factor in determining whether a firm will achieve its goals than a coherent cloud strategy: CloudNow is at your service!

For most IT companies, the first thing to be discussed before starting a project is whether to follow the Waterfall or Agile method of software development. The two methods come with their own unique benefits and drawbacks and therefore contribute differently towards the output created. Here, we aim to differentiate between the two to help you choose better.

Waterfall Method

The waterfall method is a traditional, linear approach to software development which follows a documented sequence of steps:

Requirement documentation Design Code and unit test System testing User acceptance testing Bug fixing Finished product A waterfall method project follows the above sequence in steps without going back and forth.

Advantages of the Waterfall method

The process flow of the project is determined and agreed-upon from start to finish, making end-to-end planning more efficient and transparent. It is easier to measure progress throughout the SDLC. Client presence is hardly required except for reviews and approvals which are, once again, pre-determined. Design is completed early on in the development cycle and this makes project completion faster in projects which require multiple modules to be integrated with each other. The software can be designed more carefully since ALL the software deliverables are determined early — this will ensure that no bit of software that is being built is a misfit with the entire software. Drawbacks of the Waterfall method

No working software is created until the last few steps of the method. It is not suitable for projects where the requirements are at a high risk of changing. With most projects, there are a fair amount of changes that are brought in by clients. Therefore, using the waterfall methodology in such cases will be inefficient. Frequently changing the scope of a project in a waterfall methodology can cause costly delays and drastically alter the required output. Since integrations of all the modules are only done at the last stage, it becomes difficult to identify possible bottlenecks in the project. Sometimes it is difficult to visualize the software in its entirety with just the requirements document. So in cases where it is necessary to make changes to the software, it is possible to do so only after the completion of the development process. This makes it difficult to implement changes in the software when the Waterfall method is followed. Agile Method

Agile in an iterative method of software development which involves a tight feedback loop for rapid application development. Agile deviates from a document-based approach to that of a collaboration-based approach to software development. Instead of tasks, “sprints” are created while developing software using Agile. Each sprint usually lasts for a few weeks and a list of deliverables are completed within that time and sent to the client for review. An end-of-sprint demo is conducted for clients after which the work is determined for the next sprint.

Advantages of the Agile method

Since the client is frequently involved in the software development process, the right decisions are made very early on in the project. The client gets a first-hand feel for what the software is shaping up to be and hence, can get a sense of ownership of the project. If the available time-to-market is short, then Agile can help you release a rudimentary version of the software fast. Drawbacks of the Agile method

“If someone asks me what cloud computing is, I try not to get bogged down with definitions. I tell them that, simply put, cloud computing is a better way to run your business.”

– Marc Benioff, Founder, CEO and Chairman, Salesforce

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That’s just about it in a nutshell. Cloud computing is a better way to run your business. But while you gain easy scalability and increased productivity from cloud computing, one of the biggest challenges is cost. And this is where cloud optimization comes in.

What is cloud optimization?

Cloud optimization is the process of eliminating cloud resource waste by right-sizing resources spent on specific cloud features. In a DevOps environment, cloud optimization is defined as the most efficient way to allocate cloud resources. Cloud optimization boosts cloud utilization, and can saves you a considerable amount of money in the process.

With tools that leverage automation in cloud optimization, you can save more, with less time investment. Among the most popular Infrastructure as Code (IaC) tools today is Hashicorp Terraform. Its human-readable configuration files allow you to define cloud and on-prem resources. Terraform can manage low-level components like compute, storage, and networking resources, as well as high-level components like DNS entries and SaaS features that can be reused and shared.

How does Terraform do it?

Terraform creates and manages resources on cloud platforms through application programming interfaces. There are three stages:

Write: This is where resources are defined across multiple cloud providers and services.

Plan: Here, Terraform creates an execution plan describing the infrastructure it will create, update, or destroy based on the configuration.

Apply: Terraform performs the proposed operations.

Who uses Terraform?

Terraform manages external resources (such as public cloud infrastructure, private cloud infrastructure, software as a service, and platform as a service) with “providers”. Amazon Web Services (AWS), Azure, Google Cloud Platform (GCP), Kubernetes, GitHub, and DataDog are some examples. According to available data, more than 8,716 companies use Hashicorp Terraform and this number continues to grow.

Why should you consider using it as well?

With IaC tools like Terraform, you can save more money on cloud computing by optimizing your resource allocation and costs, automatically.

Terraform manages infrastructure on different cloud platforms.

Infrastructure code can be written quickly as Terraform has a human-readable configuration language. It is also simple to use when it comes to executing the code.

Terraform also allows you to track resource changes throughout your deployments.

Terraform can be scaled in an organized manner.

Terraform allows you to automatically delete an entire development environment along with its associated resources, which can result in cost reductions. Some users for instance unintentionally keep AWS resources active, generating high expenses due to services not being properly disabled.

Terraform is also flexible, using a plugin-based model to support providers and provisioners.

According to a KPMG report, the five major risks in cloud computing are related to data security, technology, operations, vendors, and finance. All of these risks can result in business interruption, loss of revenue and reputation, as well as failure in regulatory compliance.

What accounts for the vulnerabilities and risks in cloud infrastructure? According to the report, these risks and vulnerabilities arise due to:

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Challenges in public cloud adoption and ways to overcome them

Lack of visibility into controls over initiation, authorization, recording, processing, or reporting of transactions

Unauthorized data access by a service provider and/or less control over who sees what data

Data leakage or access risks due to multi-tenancy or shared infrastructure between different organizations

Lack of flexibility over data protection mechanisms

A report by Flexera states that vulnerabilities such as hardware sprawl (many models), software sprawl (many versions), cloud sprawl (many VMs and other assets), and lifecycle management are top areas of concern for tech decision makers regarding IT assets.

It has also been reported that every day in 2021 there are at least 560,000 instances of new malware being created and detected — so keeping IT assets secure needs to be a top priority in any enterprise.

Knowing where you’re at risk and understanding how to pre-empt or counter it helps an enterprise save time, money and other valuable resources that drive your business.

Threats can be both external and internal

Malware constitutes the external threats, while vulnerabilities are the internal threats.

Vulnerabilities include sensitive data exposure, broken authentication, broken access control and so on. Once a security vulnerability is uncovered, it’s important to immediately patch it; if you’ve found it, malicious actors could too.

Vulnerabilities can be exploited in different ways depending on the nature of the vulnerability and motives of the attacker; it could be caused by mistakes in coding, improper access privileges, unanticipated interactions of different software programs and system components.

Therefore vulnerability assessments are required to identify what can affect the systems on the network.

What are the ways to avoid vulnerabilities?

Update systems, networks, and software as soon as an update is available. Do not delay or postpone. Conduct cybersecurity audits as well. IT teams should regularly re-evaluate their networks to identify new flaws in their network security.

Be wary of automatic running of “safe” scripts as these can be a risk as malware can mimic them. Many services and protocols are vulnerable to spoofing attacks, which allows users to unintentionally send the attacker information.

Make sure the authentication systems are secure and ensure minimum granular access rights: An authentication process verifies users, so they cannot access critical data stores or interact with a network’s configuration

Ensure employees are well trained! An employee unfamiliar with cybersecurity best practices might accidentally download harmful malware by clicking on an infected link for instance.