Cloud Migration: How to Move Enterprise Systems to the Cloud

Cloud migration offers significant benefits, but why do so many migrations fail? This guide explores the proven strategies that separate successful transformations from costly disasters.

Highlights:

• Enterprise cloud migration starts with setting business goals, auditing systems, and selecting the right migration strategy.
• Rehosting, replatforming, refactoring, and replacing are core paths, depending on your goals and systems complexity.
• A custom migration roadmap ensures reduced downtime, lower costs, better compliance, and scalability.

Outdated systems are no longer a feasible option for modern enterprises. They significantly limit your innovation potential, increase security risks, and are costly to maintain. Plus, businesses that delay modernization are already losing to their competitors.

At Mind Studios, we’ve helped numerous clients migrate from their rigid, legacy infrastructure to modern cloud solutions. Since then, all of them have experienced less downtime, much easier integrations, as well as faster development of new features.

Here, we will reveal how to navigate the most common cloud migration pitfalls and achieve the transformation that positions your business for sustained growth.

Struggling with outdated systems? Let Mind Studios experts map out your cloud migration plan. Just contact us.

What problems can you solve in your company by migrating to the cloud?

For many enterprises today, legacy systems are what really holds back their growth, agility, and innovation. For such companies, cloud migration isn’t just a tech update but a business-critical decision.

Let's examine the real, tangible problems that cloud migration directly addresses.

#1. Scaling limitations

On-premises infrastructure isn’t built to handle rapid growth or sudden seasonal spikes. What’s more, according to research, an unplanned IT downtime now costs about $14,056 per minute for SMEs, rising to $23,750 per minute for enterprises.

If your traditional infrastructure can’t scale, that means your user experience suffers, and so does your revenue.

How cloud migration helps solve it

Traditional systems can't scale during peak periods, forcing businesses to either over-provision expensive hardware or risk system crashes during critical moments.

Cloud technology offers elasticity, which allows you to scale your resources up or down whenever you need it.

#2. High infrastructure costs

Having legacy systems means friction at each development stage. Plus, maintaining physical infrastructure is quite expensive as everything builds up: energy consumption, full-time support teams, and hardware upgrades.

How cloud migration helps solve it

If you move legacy systems to the cloud, you can significantly reduce these costs by shifting from a CapEx to OpEx model, and reinvest in your growth.

#3. Disaster recovery risks

The average outage lasts almost 2 hours (117 minutes). When you have traditional systems, it means recovering from outages can take hours or even days. That’s not the time that most businesses can afford.

How cloud migration helps solve it

Cloud systems oftentimes come with built-in redundancy, automated failover, and backup, as well as reliable compliance features.

We’ve worked with enterprises that lost thousands of dollars because of a simple outage that their outdated legacy systems couldn’t handle, since they lacked a flexible backup path.
After they successfully moved to cloud-native architecture, they were able to achieve 99.99% uptime and received an automated failover that kicks in within seconds (not hours!) after an outage occurs. Their disaster recovery switched from a 6-hour manual process to a fully automated one.

— Dmytro Dobrytskyi, CEO at Mind Studios.

#4. Data silos and poor collaboration

Legacy setups, in most cases, isolate both teams and data. This means your sales, marketing, and operations teams might use different systems, which results in slow decision-making and redundant efforts.

How cloud migration helps solve it

Cloud solutions feature seamless integration capabilities, real-time access to data, as well as centralized analytics that allow for smarter business decisions.

#5. Innovation bottlenecks

If you want to update your legacy system, it may take anywhere from a week to a month because the infrastructure is outdated and dependencies are fragile.

How cloud migration helps solve it

In contrast to that, cloud platforms support DevOps, automation, as well as CI/CD pipelines, which significantly streamlines deployment and release cycles.

Which model fits your needs: Private, public, or hybrid cloud

Your cloud migration journey starts with selecting the right deployment model that will fit your business needs. Each approach has pros and cons that suit different business scenarios.

Public cloud

This type of cloud offers the highest scalability with providers managing both maintenance and updates to the infrastructure. Basically, you pay for what you use, scale when you need to, and get access to cutting-edge services without significant upfront costs.

Private cloud

A private cloud provides dedicated resources with greater security and compliance control. This is ideal if you operate in a regulated industry or have sensitive workloads.

Hybrid cloud

A hybrid approach allows you to retain your sensitive data in a private environment while also using the public cloud for less critical workloads. Basically, you get the flexibility to optimize your costs by placing each workload in the most suitable environment.

Now, let’s identify which approach aligns better with your business priorities, regulatory requirements, and growth objectives.

It’s common for enterprises to start with a hybrid model to balance their risks and rewards during the migration. Choosing public cloud offers the fastest time-to-market for new projects, while private clouds are the best choice for regulated workloads.

The key here is to match each of your apps with the best environment, and not to force everything into one model.

Need help with selecting the right approach for your needs? Contact us to get a free consultation from our experts.

Proven strategies to migrate your enterprise system to the cloud

The way you migrate matters as much as your decision to migrate in the first place. While some legacy systems may require minimal changes and can be moved quickly, others involve a complete rebuild or even replacement.

Here are the four most common strategies for cloud migration of legacy systems.

Rehosting

This strategy requires moving your systems to the cloud with minimal modifications. What you need to do is rehost from your physical servers to cloud containers or virtual machines, all while maintaining the same app architecture.

Best for	Timeline	Cost impact
Apps approaching the end of life; Time-sensitive migrations.	The fastest option; Typically requires 3–6 months.	Immediate infrastructure savings.

Replatforming

This method involves making targeted optimizations during your migration (like, for example, moving to managed databases/implementing Kubernetes orchestration) without core app redesign.

Best for	Timeline	Cost impact
Apps with clear modernization opportunities.	Moderate; Typically requires 6–12 months, depending on the scope.	Much better performance and cost-effectiveness compared to pure rehosting.

Refactoring

This process means fully re-architecturing your app for it to become cloud-native. It requires taking advantage of microservices and serverless computing, as well as using server-specific services such as PaaS, SaaS, or IaaS.

Best for	Timeline	Cost impact
Core apps that require significant improvement.	Usually 12–24 months for complex systems.	Highest upfront investment; Maximum long-term benefits.

Replacing

Complete replacement of your existing systems with modern SaaS solutions/building new cloud-native solutions from scratch.

Best for	Timeline	Cost impact
Outdated systems that can’t support your business growth.	Variable, depends on the complexity of the solution.	Eliminates technical dept; Provides immediate modern capabilities.

Typically, companies with critical uptime requirements benefit from cloud migration approach called replatforming, as it provides lower risk. On the other hand, companies that seek competitive differentiation will benefit from investing in refactoring — to maximize cloud-native benefits.

Rehosting might be a better fit for companies that need quick migration with minimal disruption, and replacement is ideal if you want to achieve long-term benefits.

Mind Studios’ recommendation: Sometimes, selecting only one approach is not optimal. A portfolio approach, or selecting different strategies for different apps based on business criticality and modernization potential, might be your best option then.

Why most cloud migrations fail (and how to avoid it)

Even with the best intentions, many cloud migration strategies go off track. And the problem is not with the cloud itself but, in most cases, in how the migration is handled. That is why poor planning, lack of alignment between teams, or rushed execution can transform this strategic upgrade into a complete disaster.

At Mind Studios, we always help our clients prevent costly mistakes by employing a structured and risk-managed approach.

Here are the most common pitfalls our clients face and how to avoid them.

#1: The “lift and panic” approach

Many companies treat cloud migration like moving a house overnight, meaning fast, chaotic, and without a clear plan. That’s why they move systems as they are without thinking about interdependencies, SLA considerations, or how exactly cloud systems work.

Solution

We recommend (and we apply this to all our projects):

• creating a detailed cloud migration roadmap where you prioritize low-risk systems,
• mapping your legacy dependencies,
• using dry runs to reduce potential surprises.

#2: Security blind spots

If you rush to migrate, chances are your teams may overlook security protocols. This may result in exposed APIs, misconfigured permissions, and data transfers without encryption. Such gaps will likely create serious compliance risks, especially if you operate in regulated industries.

Solution

In each project we undertake, our tech team ensures that every step of the cloud migration process includes security-first design, role-based access, as well as encrypted storage and transfer protocols.

Additionally, for industries like healthcare and finance, we make sure our processes are aligned with relevant standards (like HIPAA and ISO 27001).

Mind Studios’ recommendations: Before moving any of your data, implement a security-first migration approach. This can be done by creating identity and access management (IAM) policies. Also, security audits should be conducted during each migration phase, and it is highly recommended to use cloud-native tools such as AWS GuardDuty or Azure Security Center.

#3: Shadow IT chaos

When each of your departments adopts its own tools and IT ecosystem, you may find yourself with duplicated platforms, inconsistent user experiences, and unmonitored data flow. This may significantly slow down the migration process and lead to latency instead of better performance.

Solution

For this issue, we implement centralized control systems and real-time monitoring dashboards to ensure visibility across all cloud resources.

#4: Unexpected cost creep

Many companies pay for idle services, duplicated workloads, and over-provisioned resources. Especially if they don’t have proper usage tracking in place.

Solution

Our tech team always designs cost-effective setups with provisioning, regular audits, and usage-based optimization to ensure the waste is eliminated and ROI is improved. We help you understand where and how to optimize, and by this, we mean not only technically but also financially.

#5: Internal adoption fail

What we’ve learned from our experience is that tech migration is only 50% of the challenges, the rest is cultural adoption. Even if your cloud systems are ready, this doesn’t mean your team is. If your employees aren’t trained properly, this may lead to resistance and missed opportunities.

Solution

At Mind Studios, we provide change management guidance from day one: we conduct onboarding sessions, provide clear documentation, and tailor workflows to your business transformation goals. We also help your teams transition smoothly with hands-on assistance.

Worried your cloud migration may go off track? Avoid common mistakes that may cost you time and money by creating a custom migration roadmap. Contact our tech team for a free consultation.

Mind Studios’ approach to enterprise cloud transformation

Every cloud migration needs a specific set of tools, timeline, as well as strategy. That’s why, in most cases, generic cloud migration solutions fall short.

We always take a tailored approach to our cloud migration projects, ensuring your systems, teams, and long-term goals always remain in sync throughout the entire migration journey.

While off-the-shelf solutions offer quick fixes, we offer long-term adaptability.

Summary: Generic off-the-shelf solutions may save you upfront costs, but, most often, they result in costly rework, vendor dependency, as well as missed opportunities for optimization.

In contrast, Mind Studios’ custom approach, while requiring a higher initial investment, delivers superior long-term value through reduced operational costs, improved performance, and strategic flexibility.

Thinking cloud? Start with a roadmap

For modern companies, cloud migration is a business investment that pays dividends in flexibility, resilience, as well as innovation capabilities. Businesses that have already opted for migration view it as a transformation opportunity rather than a simple technological change.

The real value comes when your systems become more flexible, your expenses go down, and your teams can innovate much faster. But none of that is possible without a clear roadmap.

At Mind Studios, our tech team has years of experience creating step-by-step migration plans for our clients. No matter what your goal is — full modernization or just gradual virtualization of your legacy systems — we can help you design a cloud migration journey to match your budget and timeline.

And the successful journey starts with asking the right questions. Contact us today to talk about your migration.

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