Security is a Critical Consideration in Cloud Migration Planning

Organizations are shifting their applications to the cloud to gain new levels of efficiency, elasticity and scalability. According to Flexera, 57 percent of organizations have moved workloads to the cloud, and that number should continue to increase.

However, moving mission-critical apps into the cloud is rarely a “lift-and-shift” proposition in which an app is rehosted without any modifications. In fact, rehosting is often a costly disaster because it doesn’t take full advantage of cloud services.

Before migration, organizations should perform multiple analyses related to cost, performance, availability and connectivity, and develop a formalized cloud migration plan. They must also account for application dependencies and ensure that the cloud platform will support key business and technical requirements.

Security is another important consideration. Too many organizations migrate applications to the cloud and worry about security later. However, cloud migration almost always involves changes to security protocols. The cloud comes with different security tools, techniques and skillsets, complicating the migration process.

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Getting the Foundation Right

The cloud operates on a shared responsibility model, in which the service provider is responsible for some aspects of security and the customer is responsible for others. However, major cloud providers implement this model differently, and policies differ across various platforms and services. Before selecting a provider, service or plan, organizations should take time to understand their responsibilities.

A review of the organization’s security policies is in order. Policies developed for on-premises infrastructure are unlikely to address the unique security challenges associated with cloud computing. In many cases, organizations will need to draft new policies that address security and compliance requirements in the cloud.

Organizations should also determine what cloud-native security services are available. There’s a natural tendency to implement familiar on-premises services in the cloud, but that can be expensive. Cloud-native security is more cost-efficient and scalable.

Understanding Data Requirements

Regulatory compliance often relates to data residency. Some privacy laws, such as the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), require that data be processed and stored in certain countries. With on-premises infrastructure, organizations know exactly where their data is stored but in the cloud they may not. Organizations should consider data residency when adopting cloud services and ensure that they understand where all copies of data, including backups, are hosted.

Data classification goes hand in hand with data residency. Organizations should classify data stored in the cloud so they can identify sensitive information related to employees and customers.

Many organizations fail to take these steps because they lack the necessary expertise. With cloud skills in high demand, organizations struggle to fill open positions for cloud specialists. A better option is to partner with a third-party provider with experience in cloud migrations and security.

How DeSeMa Can Help

DeSeMa’s consultants can provide the expertise organizations need for successful cloud migration. Several members of our team held senior-level roles in the buildout of major public cloud platforms and services, and contributed to the development of several coding languages. We have insight into what works and what doesn’t, and can apply our experience to each organization’s unique requirements.

Through our collaborative approach, we can help customers develop a cloud security strategy that meets their objectives. We can also design and implement cloud platforms, rearchitect and refactor applications, configure security tools, and inventory data assets.

Cloud migration is complex, with a number of obstacles to overcome. Security is a major concern. Without the right strategy and expertise, organizations risk suffering a security breach that would negate the benefits of the cloud. Let us help you plan your cloud migration to avoid these pitfalls.