A map to the cloud: How to avoid dead ends?

At the AWS Lounge Hungary "Heading to the Cloud!" event, Márk Sági-Kazár shared insights on the pitfalls and lessons of cloud migration.

The surprising core issue

The Cloud Native Ambassador wasted no time revealing the key insight: Cloud migration is fundamentally not a technological issue but an organizational one. The primary challenges stem from misunderstandings, lack of coordination, and misalignment within the organization, which impact 60% of migrations.

Another compelling point he raised is that there is no universal, ready-made solution for cloud migration. You can't simply execute it with a one-year plan and expect a smooth transition.

Here's a brief outline of Márk Sági-Kazár's key takeaways.

Costs and time estimation: Where are the challenges?

• Underestimating costs is a common issue.
• One of the most critical questions: How many people will cloud migration require, and how much time will it require?

Internal motivational challenges in cloud migration

• Developers want more control, while management is primarily concerned with costs.
• Often, there is no consensus on why the organization wants to migrate to the cloud in the first place.

Issues surrounding strategy

• Choosing the right strategy based on organizational goals is essential. This requires gathering all stakeholders at the same table.
• Two main approaches:
• Lift and shift: Migrating everything to the cloud.
• Cloud-Native: Designing applications from the ground up to be cloud-compatible.

Resources and scaling in the cloud: The positive changes

• New possibilities: Unlimited resources, automatic scaling, and cost reduction.
• Significantly more operational flexibility.

The cloud-native approach (in the speaker's practical definition)

• Development and operations need to be more closely integrated. This requires a kind of "contract" between the two groups.

Containers and runtime environments

• Running applications in containers is crucial.
• Kubernetes is highly useful but requires in-house expertise.
• Organizations must ensure the capability for fast startup and shutdown of services.
• Observability—logging and monitoring—is critical for operational success.
• Security and compliance must always be considered.

Cost optimization

• The cloud offers automatic scaling and cost-saving opportunities.
• However, both the platform and the application must support scalability.

Conclusion

• Effective internal collaboration is key.
• Bridging the gap between developers and operations is essential.
• Recognize that there will always be gaps in knowledge and issues that not everyone understands.
• Progress in small steps toward larger milestones—small wins matter.
• Technology decisions should align with organizational goals.
• A working solution is more important than a perfect architecture.

You can watch the entire presentation here: