Lessons for the future of cloud migration
Published by Colt Technology Services on January 20, 2023
Network limitations have held back past projects
Colt’s Cloud Research Report for 2022 proves a close link between having the right network and reaping the full benefits of a cloud move. The problem picked out by the majority of senior IT and C-suite decision-makers was one of network quality. In this blog, we examine in more detail how future migration projects might be able to learn from earlier efforts where connectivity is concerned.
It’s a rare cloud migration project that meets all of its objectives the first time trying. Unsurprisingly for such a complex and profound upheaval, and one intimately bound up with digital transformation aims, there will always be areas of a cloud initiative that could, in hindsight, have been done differently.
Given how important the network is to cloud success, Colt was keen to explore some of the connectivity issues behind past projects as part of its annual cloud report. Not all digital infrastructure companies are the same, and the wrong choice can put a cloud project on the back foot.
Drilling down geographically, network quality was primarily found to be an issue in Italy, where 45% of respondents cited it as an area for improvement. Decision makers in Germany (37%), Spain (36%), and France (32%) felt similarly, as did those in Singapore (31%). Stakeholders in Japan found network quality the least of a concern (21%).
Italian respondents were also the most vocal regarding network security, with 42% picking it out as an issue, compared to the UK, where only 23% of the respondents felt secure. Spanish and Japanese respondents had concerns over project costs.
When we look at results according to industry sector, further interesting variants emerge. The issue of network quality again features prominently. Retailers, Manufacturers and IT companies highlighted this as a pressing issue, all of them perhaps dependent on complex supply chains and featuring heavily distributed workforces, making it hard to achieve consistent quality access to cloud-based resources.
Security looms large in the minds of Financial Service institutions, while cost and reliability were issues among digital infrastructure companies and businesses in Travel, Transport and Logistics. Cost was the top concern of retailers – an industry made famous by its close margins.
So what lessons can be drawn from organisations wanting to learn from past problems in future migrations? Given that network quality is a near-universal concern, regardless of geography or sector, a partner is needed that offers flexible network services based on modern digital infrastructure and is not encumbered by legacy investments. The ability to pay for network resources on demand, so achieving the best value, is also paramount.
If you want to see our report in full, you can download it from this link.
Research is already underway for the next edition of the report, available later this year.
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