The idea of ‘moving to the cloud’ might have once been a phrase that struck fear in businesses due to the transition from a more traditional on-premise infrastructure appearing as an unwanted challenge. However, the process has become far simpler and straightforward in recent years thanks to clear, repeatable processes and documented best practices.

Nowadays, 92% of medium-sized and 85% of large businesses use cloud services in some form. Many smaller teams and start-ups are looking to move to cloud-based systems to alleviate the costs of procuring and managing their hardware and software. Having led or supported multiple cloud migrations for companies of all sizes, I thought I would share my five top tips for taking your first steps towards the cloud.

1.    Start with applications

The first step in embracing the cloud is to start with your applications, not your infrastructure. A common mistake in poor cloud migrations is teams looking to simply “lift and shift” their infrastructure in its current form to the new cloud provider. However, it’s your applications that serve value to your customers and internal teams, so your platform must be built around them. Take the time to analyse your applications and engage with your vendors to ensure you can optimise these systems and leverage the toolkit cloud providers supply.

2.    Begin with best practices

Migrating to the cloud gives you an opportunity for your business to retain what’s working well and identify the areas you can improve on. Every cloud supplier will have a list of best practices and “well architected frameworks”, and sticking to these will ensure you are able to establish the best levels of security and cost control from the outset without having to worry about retrospective corrections.

3.    Consider new skills 

Moving to the cloud will require your internal IT team and partners to undergo training and learn new skill sets. These individuals should already have tried and tested experience in supporting your business, but new cloud platforms will require specific training programmes and supplier selection processes. While these are essential, try to avoid complexity. For example, some suppliers like to advocate the value of working with multiple cloud providers but, in my experience, the benefits are vastly outweighed by the increased costs and additional challenges.

4.    Don’t follow the sales pitch

No matter whether it’s in person, at a conference or in a meeting, you’ll likely hear about all of the latest and greatest innovations in AI, blockchain, digital twins or any other current buzzwords. While these can be tempting, it is important when migrating to focus on creating a solid and scalable platform that supports future innovation. By doing so, you will ensure you have a system that is focused on your business requirements. Then, once you are ready for innovation, your chosen cloud provider will be able to help you embrace it.

5.    Hyperscalers aren’t always the answer

Finally, hyperscalers (i.e. large cloud service providers) like Azure, AWS and Google Cloud are not always the answer. If you currently have legacy or VM-based architecture, there can be significant costs in moving to the cloud with potentially little improvement in performance, resilience or adaptability with these platforms. Instead, you might find that challenger or private cloud providers are able to offer VM hosting at a fraction of the cost. It is therefore helpful to undertake a due diligence exercise to ensure you find the right solution for your firm’s needs.

Are you thinking about a cloud migration or need some advice on how to find the right supplier for your business? Get in touch with 3Kites (via [email protected]) and we’ll be happy to help.

Luke Axon is a consultant at 3Kites and a former law firm head of IT and former cloud solution architect at Microsoft. This is the 44th article in the series Navigating Legaltech. 

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About 3Kites and Kemp IT Law  
3Kites is an independent consultancy, which is to say that we have no ties or arrangements with any suppliers so that we can provide our clients with unfettered advice. We have been operating since 2006 and our consultants include former law firm partners (one a managing partner), a GC, two law firm IT directors and an owner of a practice management company. This blend of skills and experience puts us in a unique position when providing advice on IT strategy, fractional IT management, knowledge management, product selections, process review (including the legal process) and more besides. 3Kites often works closely with Kemp IT Law (KITL), a boutique law firm offering its clients advice on IT services and related areas such as GDPR. Where relevant (eg when discussing cloud computing in a future article) this column may include content from the team at KITL to provide readers with a broader perspective including any regulatory considerations.