The Cloud Journey: Overcoming Implementation Challenges

Cloud technology uses remote servers to access and deliver content, services, and applications over the internet. Due to its convenience, countless organizations leverage it to their advantage.

However, transitioning from on-premises storage to the cloud can be challenging, and businesses must exercise caution when adopting cloud-based infrastructure.

Read on to learn more about cloud computing, its benefits, and the challenges to expect during a cloud migration.

What Is Cloud Computing, and How Does It Work?

McKinsey & Company defines cloud computing as a technology that “allows companies to store their infrastructures remotely via the internet.”

Previously, organizations would have to store and run all systems on their physical servers. With cloud technology, they can engage cloud service providers to do so remotely. As McKinsey explains, this theoretically eliminates the need to purchase, physically install, and maintain infrastructure — which can reduce costs and streamline operations.

According to Google Cloud, three types of cloud services exist:

• Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS): Under the IaaS model, the cloud service provider owns and operates the infrastructure. Customers pay for access but still need to purchase and manage the software that runs on it (e.g., operating systems and applications).
• Platform as a Service (PaaS): PaaS delivers and manages hardware and software resources for developing cloud applications. Vendors typically offer middleware, tools, and databases for doing so as part of a cloud platform.
• Software as a Service (SaaS): SaaS offers a full application that customers use on a subscription basis. A SaaS cloud solution typically comes as a ready-to-use product the cloud provider manages and maintains.

Types of Cloud Environments

According to IBM, there are four types of cloud environments:

1. Public Cloud Environments

As IBM explains, a public cloud is a type of cloud computing where “a cloud service provider makes computing resources available to users over the public internet.” For example, public clouds host many SaaS applications where multiple customers share the provider’s data center infrastructure.

According to Flexera’s 2024 State of the Cloud Report, the most popular public cloud providers include:

• Amazon Web Services (AWS)
• Microsoft Azure
• Google Cloud
• IBM Cloud
• Oracle Cloud Infrastructure
• Alibaba Cloud

2. Private Cloud Environments

By contrast, a private cloud is an environment where the infrastructure and every computing resource is “dedicated exclusively to, and accessible only by, a single customer.” Rather than public internet delivery, these resources are hosted on-premises or in an exclusive off-site data center.

A private cloud can provide two benefits compared to a public cloud: regulatory compliance and cybersecurity. For example, organizations that handle confidential documents, intellectual property, or medical records have strict compliance requirements. Private clouds allow businesses to embrace the cloud’s flexibility without sharing resources with other customers.

3. Hybrid Cloud Environments

A hybrid cloud blends public cloud, private cloud, and on-premises environments into a single infrastructure running an organization’s applications and workloads.

Many businesses take a hybrid cloud approach because it offers greater flexibility, scalability, and cost optimization. Moreover, it allows organizations to decide what they migrate or retain depending on their needs.

4. Multi-Cloud Environments

Google Cloud defines multi-cloud environments as the use of cloud services from more than one vendor. For instance, it can include a combination of two or more public clouds, multiple private clouds, or some mixture of both. As Flexera reports, 89% of organizations use a multi-cloud environment.

Benefits of Cloud Migration

As more organizations embark on the cloud adoption journey, consider the following potential advantages:

• Scalability: According to Scott Mensch, PhD, faculty member in the School of Business and Information Technology at Purdue Global, cloud computing affords more flexibility for computing resources, such as CPU or RAM. As he explains, businesses can add more or less as needed rather than purchasing beforehand as they would with a physical on-premises infrastructure. “This not only eliminates the upfront costs,” Mensch says, “but capacity planning is easier because you can make these changes at a later date.” Organizations can optimize their resources accordingly if there’s a sudden dip or spike in demand.
• Cost efficiency: Aside from resource optimization, cloud technology can be more cost-effective than traditional computing, according to IBM. It may enable businesses to “offload some or all of the expense and effort of purchasing, installing, configuring, and managing” mainframe computers and other hardware.
• Innovation: McKinsey estimates cloud adoption could generate $3 trillion in global value by 2030. Much of that will come from innovation-driven growth, which it classifies as largely revenue related. Specifically, its use cases include advanced analytics and automation that can enhance growth, optimize operations, and accelerate product development.

>>Learn about five trends driving cloud computing today.

7 Cloud Computing Challenges

A cloud implementation may have its benefits, but not all journeys are successful. A recent survey from Accenture found that only 42% of cloud migrations achieve their desired outcomes.

Indeed, teams can face many cloud computing challenges along the way, including:

1. Lack of Planning

According to Mensch, planning can make or break a cloud implementation.

“A lot of organizations that fail do so because they jump in head first, or they think they planned and realize very quickly that they didn’t,” Mensch explains. “Organizations should be sitting back and strategically thinking, ‘This is what our forecast is for the next X amount of years, and here’s how we’re going to meet these project goals by planning accurately.’”

This was a common issue when many companies first started exploring the cloud during the COVID-19 pandemic, adds Mensch. They didn’t have a thorough plan because they were in a time crunch, so they “pushed everything to the cloud overnight.”

Mensch believes a cloud migration is one of an organization’s biggest projects. As part of the planning phase, he says teams must identify their roles and responsibilities and whether they have the technical expertise to manage a successful migration. He also emphasizes the importance of defining the project’s scope from the beginning.

“If you don’t have a good scope statement, you’ll miss deadlines and go over budget,” Mensch says.

2. Lack of Employee Training or Expertise

Another significant problem organizations encounter is unpreparedness. According to Mensch, this again goes back to the importance of planning.

“Organizations transitioned to the cloud, and they just weren’t ready,” Mensch states. “Their employees weren’t trained. They didn’t have the capabilities or know-how to use these different technologies. And what’s the use of having them if you can’t use them? That’s like owning a sports car without a driver’s license.”

3. Dependencies

From a technical perspective, application dependencies are a significant hurdle. In fact, as stated in Flexera’s 2024 State of the Cloud Report, 54% of businesses consider it their biggest cloud computing challenge.

In short, a dependency is a piece of software an application requires to function properly. When migrating apps to the cloud, the move could impact these dependencies — and, in turn, how the applications work. According to Google, failing to understand dependencies is a type of cloud misconfiguration that could lead to future cloud security challenges.

4. Scalability and Performance Bottlenecks

IBM states that a cloud migration could introduce differences in performance compared to on-premises setups. These bottlenecks can lead to latency and other issues, potentially causing service disruptions and outages.

Performance can especially deteriorate if the selected cloud solution doesn’t effectively manage increasing data volumes and processing demands. As businesses expand, IBM says it’s vital to account for future scalability.

5. Cost Overruns

Although cloud computing technology can yield long-term cost savings, the initial migration can incur significant expenses. This can include data transfer, training costs, and more. Ongoing usage costs can escalate without proper monitoring, leading to budget overruns and financial strain.

In fact, McKinsey’s data shows that the average company spends 14% more on their cloud migration than planned each year, while 38% have delayed their timelines by more than one quarter.

6. Vendor Lock-In

Vendor lock-in can occur when an organization makes an agreement with a single cloud provider and is then limited by that contract. It can be a serious concern because it can impact costs as well as limit flexibility and hinder innovation.

One potential way to mitigate this risk is by adopting a multi- or hybrid cloud environment. Yet, as Mensch says, it once again goes back to the value of planning ahead.

“You have to understand what your use case is and which vendor is going to have the best solution because every organization will have different constraints,” he adds.

7. Cloud Security

Cybersecurity is a major cloud computing concern, especially in highly regulated industries. Take health care, for instance. According to a study published in the Journal of Medicine and Life, health care organizations are “hesitant to adopt cloud computing due to security concerns, including patient information confidentiality, privacy, and service costs.”

The researchers cite several examples, such as the cloud’s vulnerability to distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks. In short, DDoS attacks involve overwhelming the target’s network with illegitimate traffic, taking critical services and applications offline.

Mensch says security can also be enhanced by ensuring employees can only access the files or apps that are necessary.

“Whether it’s Google, Azure, or Amazon — they say the same thing over and over: Only give users the rights they need to do their job or the least amount of privilege they need to accomplish their daily tasks,” Mensch says.

With too many privileges, Mensch points out, employees could easily lock organizations out of their own systems and wreak havoc on the cloud network.

Achieving a Successful Cloud Implementation

Overcoming issues in cloud computing isn’t easy. According to IBM, to ensure a successful migration, organizations should follow this process:

1. Assess and plan: As Mensch says, this step is crucial. Teams should establish their reasons for the migration and thoroughly assess their existing infrastructure to identify suitable apps and pinpoint dependencies that require attention.
2. Select a cloud provider: This involves choosing a vendor that aligns with business needs. Mensch explains that evaluating service-level agreements is important because “if something serious has to be escalated, you’re on their timeframe.” Businesses may not be able to resolve issues as quickly as they could with on-premises management.
3. Design the cloud architecture: In this step, teams determine how to organize apps, data, and infrastructure in the cloud environment. That includes networking and security configurations.
4. Run the migration: At this stage, the team transfers the existing infrastructure to the new cloud environment using one of several migration strategies.
5. Test and validate: Rigorous testing ensures newly transferred apps are functional. “You shouldn’t be figuring it out in the middle of actually doing it,” Mensch says. “Everything should be mapped out. And you should also have a dry test run to make sure your plan is going to work in a controlled environment before you launch it live and affect the entire enterprise.”
6. Optimize and maintain: At this point, teams focus on optimizing cloud resources, fine-tuning applications, and monitoring the environment for continuous improvement.

Is a Career in Cloud Computing Right for You?

If you ask Mensch, it’s safe to say that cloud computing isn’t going anywhere.

“We’re seeing very large organizations relying on these types of services just to run,” Mensch explains. “We know they work. Now, we just have to start utilizing them better.”

If you’re interested in pursuing a career in cloud computing, Purdue Global offers an online bachelor’s degree in cloud computing and solutions and a master’s in IT with a concentration in AWS cloud technologies. Our online courses combine theory with virtual laboratory experience to teach the technical, strategic, and business skills required to build expertise in cloud technology.

Ready to take the next step in your career? Request more information today.

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