Cloud migration is the process of moving data, applications or other business elements to a cloud computing environment. There are various types of cloud migrations an enterprise can perform. One common model is the transfer of data and applications from a local, on-premises data center to the public cloud.

Key Advantages to Moving to the Cloud

Companies move to the cloud for many reasons. Below are just a few of the ways in which moving to the cloud can be a winning decision for your organization.
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• Cost-effective. When you maintain your own data warehouse onsite, you are responsible for maintaining the infrastructure and workforce to support every aspect of your warehouse. But when you move to the cloud, you can get the benefit of world-class infrastructure while saving money.
• Simplified. Much of the complexity of a data warehouse can be handled by a team of product experts at a cloud data warehouse provider. This means your employees can focus on the things that really matter, like growing your business.
• Scalable. One of the biggest advantages of the cloud is scalability. Whether you are scaling up quickly or slowly, a cloud data warehouse can accommodate you.
• Secure. Cloud data warehouses are responsible for providing services that meet common compliance requirements, including certifications like SOC 2, ISO27001, HIPAA, and PCI. When you move to the cloud, a team of security experts is part of the bargain.
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Cloud Migration Challenges

The larger and more complex your company’s current infrastructure, the harder it may be to move to the cloud. Like any big change, there are challenges involved in moving to the cloud.
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Replanning your Data Model

You will almost certainly need to change your data model. Different cloud data warehouses support different types of schema. In addition, the data types may be different. For example, Snowflake introduces VARIANT, OBJECT, and ARRAY to support semi-structured data.
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Planning for Security

You are probably concerned about how you will maintain secure data when you move it to the cloud where you have less control. Security is a concern during and after migration. What’s more, sensitive data is often subject to compliance requirements, which can be hard to support during the migration process.
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Moving Stored Procedures

If you use stored procedures, you may be surprised to find out that this solution isn’t commonly supported in cloud environments. Migrating these stored procedures to a cloud data warehouse can be challenging.

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