Dr. Priyanka Ray discussed the major challenges in cloud migration and modernization for enterprises, emphasizing the complexity often underestimated in large-scale, legacy system migrations.
Key issues include poor planning, unexpected costs, operational disruptions, misalignment between IT strategy and business goals, inadequate change management, neglected security and compliance, single-vendor lock-in, skill development gaps, and poor stakeholder engagement.
Joshua Feinberg noted that many challenges are non-technical, focusing on people, change management, and business alignment rather than purely technical concerns.
This video is excerpted from the podcast Ep. #52 Dr. Priyanka Ray, Global GTM Cloud Migration & Modernisation Lead of IBM | Data Center Go-to-Market Podcast.
Action Items
- Engage an experienced partner to plan and execute the cloud migration project properly.
- Align the IT strategy and migration efforts with the broader business objectives.
- Implement a robust change management process to ensure employee adaptation to new changes.
- Prioritize security and compliance considerations from the start of the migration project.
- Adopt a multi-vendor, multi-technology approach to avoid vendor lock-in.
- Invest in continuous skill development so the team can keep up with the pace of technology changes.
- Engage key stakeholders throughout the transformation project to ensure buy-in and aligned expectations.
Outline
Challenges in Cloud Migration and Modernization
- Joshua Feinberg asks Dr. Priyanka Ray about the biggest challenges companies face in cloud infrastructure migrations and modernizations.
- Dr. Priyanka Ray highlights that many companies underestimate the complexity of migrating from legacy systems to the cloud.
- She mentions that poor planning leads to unexpected costs and operational disruptions, affecting timelines and costs.
- Ray points out the lack of alignment between IT strategy and business goals, resulting in projects that do not deliver tangible business value.
Alignment and Change Management Issues
- Ray discusses the importance of aligning IT efforts with broader business objectives to avoid wasted resources and missed innovation opportunities.
- She emphasizes the critical role of change management in digital transformations, noting that inadequate management can delay projects.
- Ray highlights the risks of treating security and compliance as afterthoughts, including data breaches and regulatory penalties.
- She provides an example of Broadcom's acquisition of VMware, illustrating the risks of single-vendor or single-technology lock-in.
Skill Development and Stakeholder Engagement
- Ray identifies skill development as a significant challenge, noting that the rapid pace of technology change requires continuous learning.
- She points out that many organizations fail to invest adequately in skills development for their teams, leading to a skill gap in the industry.
- Effective engagement of key stakeholders is crucial, but poor communication and engagement often lead to a lack of buy-in and misaligned expectations.
- Ray concludes by summarizing the key areas of challenge that enterprises face during transformation projects.
Business-Related Challenges vs. Technical Concerns
- Joshua Feinberg observes that many challenges are more business-related than technical, such as change management, vendor lock-in, budgeting, and timelines.
- He finds it interesting that technical concerns are not as overwhelming as dealing with people, personnel, and change issues.
- Feinberg acknowledges the complexity of these business-related challenges and their impact on successful transformations.
- The conversation ends with a mutual understanding of the various challenges faced in cloud migration and modernization projects.
Resources
Do you want to stay up to date about upcoming episodes?
Subscribe to the Data Center Sales and Marketing Newsletter
