Moving to the cloud is one of the best decisions a Jersey business can make. But we have seen plenty of migrations go wrong because of avoidable mistakes. Here are the five most common ones we see, and how to make sure they do not happen to you.
1. Moving Everything at Once
The biggest mistake we see is businesses trying to migrate everything in a single weekend. Email, files, applications, databases, all at once. It sounds efficient, but it creates enormous risk. If something goes wrong, everything is affected.
The better approach is to migrate in phases. Start with something low-risk like file storage, then move email, then applications. Each phase gives you a chance to test, learn, and fix issues before moving on to the next. Most of our cloud migrations for Jersey businesses follow a 3-4 week phased plan.
2. Not Testing Before the Switch
We have seen businesses migrate their email to Microsoft 365 without testing whether their existing workflows, shared mailboxes, and distribution lists all work correctly in the new environment. The result is chaos on Monday morning when staff arrive and nothing works as expected.
Always run a parallel testing phase. Set up test accounts, verify that calendar sharing works, check that email signatures display correctly, and make sure mobile devices connect properly. A few hours of testing saves days of firefighting.
3. Ignoring Security During Migration
During a migration, there is often a period where data exists in two places: your old system and the cloud. This is a window of vulnerability. We have seen businesses leave old servers running with default passwords, or create temporary admin accounts that never get removed.
Security should be the first thing you configure in your new cloud environment, not the last. Set up multi-factor authentication, configure access controls, and make sure your cybersecurity posture is just as strong (or stronger) in the cloud as it was on-premises.
4. Not Training Your Team
A common scenario: the IT team migrates everything to SharePoint and OneDrive, but nobody tells the staff how to use it. People carry on saving files to their desktop, emailing documents as attachments, and ignoring the tools that were supposed to make their lives easier.
Training does not need to be a week-long course. A 30-minute session showing people where their files are, how to share documents, and who to call if they get stuck makes a huge difference. We can arrange training through our partners for teams moving to Microsoft 365 or Azure.
5. Choosing the Wrong Cloud Provider
Not all cloud platforms are equal, and the cheapest option is rarely the best. We see businesses choosing cloud providers based purely on price, only to discover later that performance is poor, support is non-existent, or the platform does not support the applications they need.
For most Jersey businesses, Microsoft Azure combined with Microsoft 365 provides the best combination of reliability, security, and integration. It works seamlessly with the tools most businesses already use, and it meets the compliance requirements that Channel Islands regulators expect.
Get Your Migration Right First Time
Cloud migration does not have to be stressful. With proper planning, phased execution, and expert guidance, it should be one of the smoothest IT projects your business undertakes. If you are thinking about moving to the cloud, talk to our team about how we can help you avoid these mistakes and get it right first time.
