Technology doesn’t stop—and neither should businesses. If you're still managing your systems from local servers (On-Premise), you’re probably already considering making the leap to the cloud. But what does that actually mean?
In simple terms, it’s about moving your systems, applications, and data to internet-based servers that you can access from anywhere. While it may sound technical, the idea is straightforward: work better, faster, and more cost-effectively.
What is On-Premise to Cloud Migration?
On-premise to cloud migration involves moving an organization’s technological components (such as physical or virtual servers, applications, data, networks, and IT tools) that are installed and managed on the company’s own premises to a cloud computing environment managed by an external provider, such as Amazon Web Services, Microsoft Azure, or GCP.
Instead of owning, maintaining, and upgrading hardware and software in-house, companies switch to using cloud infrastructure and services delivered under pay-as-you-go models, offering greater flexibility and reducing the burden of physical maintenance.
This process involves more than just relocating hardware—it also requires rethinking IT processes, security, data management, architecture, governance, and even organizational culture.
Why Migrate to the Cloud?
Migrating to the cloud isn’t just a technological decision—it’s a strategy to make your business more profitable, competitive, and agile. Here’s a straightforward breakdown:
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Cost Savings and Better Financial Control: Forget spending fortunes on hardware, maintenance, or energy. With the cloud, you only pay for what you use and can manage your budget with much greater accuracy.
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Real Scalability When Your Business Needs It: Facing demand spikes? Slow seasons? The cloud lets you scale resources up or down in minutes, hassle-free and without overspending.
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Enterprise-Level Security and Guaranteed Compliance: Major cloud providers invest billions in cybersecurity. This gives you access to technologies and certifications that would be nearly impossible—or far too expensive—to implement on your own.
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Stress-Free Business Continuity: With the cloud, backups and disaster recovery plans are much easier to implement. Your data can be replicated across multiple regions, ensuring constant availability and increased resilience.
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Faster Innovation and Improved Time-to-Market: Your team can create, test, and deploy new solutions in minutes. That translates to speed, innovation, and a clear competitive edge over those still relying on on-premise infrastructure.
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Seamless Remote Work: The cloud makes it easy for your team to collaborate from anywhere in the world, with secure access to data and applications from any device.
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Instant Access to Advanced Technologies (AI, Machine Learning, Big Data): The cloud opens the door to next-generation tools without the need for expensive infrastructure or specialized staff. Just use them when you need them.
Companies like Netflix, Spotify, and Dropbox migrated to the cloud and transformed their business models. If they did it—why not you?
Types of Cloud Services
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IaaS (Infrastructure as a Service): Provides basic resources—servers, storage, and networking. You manage the rest.
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PaaS (Platform as a Service): Ideal for developers. Offers tools to build and deploy applications without worrying about infrastructure.
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SaaS (Software as a Service): Ready-to-use applications like Gmail, Salesforce, or Microsoft 365. No installation needed.
When Does It Make Sense to Migrate? And When Doesn’t It?
Signs It’s the Right Time:
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On-premise infrastructure is outdated or nearing end-of-life.
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Growing need for scalability and remote accessibility.
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Need to reduce physical risks (outages, fires, electrical failures).
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Seeking a more flexible, growth-oriented model.
Situations That Require Deeper Analysis:
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Very old applications that are hard to modernize.
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Strict regulations requiring data to stay on-premises.
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Hidden cost risks if migration isn’t well planned.
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Extremely stable and optimized on-premise workloads.
How to Migrate to the Cloud: Key Phases
Assessment
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Complete inventory of servers, applications, and dependencies.
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Define objectives: cost savings, performance, security, innovation.
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Compatibility analysis and workload prioritization.
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Cost comparison between on-premise and cloud.
Strategy Selection
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Rehost (Lift & Shift): Move as-is to the cloud.
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Replatform: Optimize some components before migrating.
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Refactor: Redesign to fully leverage cloud benefits.
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Retire or Retain: Eliminate or keep workloads that aren’t worth migrating.
Planning
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Migration schedule by phases.
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Cloud architecture design.
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Security, encryption, compliance, and access roles planning.
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Pilot test preparation.
Execution
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Migrate data, servers, and applications according to the plan.
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Constant performance monitoring.
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Functional validation after each phase.
Optimization
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Resource adjustments to avoid cost waste.
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Ongoing application modernization.
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Monitoring and automation to ensure stability.
A cloud management service can help you and your business easily and strategically determine which type of cloud migration is truly the best fit.
Main Security Risks in Cloud Migration
Common Challenges
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Lack of a clear strategy
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Unexpected costs due to poor estimation
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Complexity of legacy applications
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Resistance to change from the IT team
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Compliance or governance issues
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Vendor lock-in
How to Mitigate These Risks
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Define a migration strategy before starting
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Conduct detailed inventories and map dependencies
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Train the team in cloud technologies
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Migrate in phases, starting with lower-risk services
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Implement governance and security policies from the beginning
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Continuously monitor costs and resource usage
Conclusion: Cloud Security Is a Strategic Decision
Migrating to the cloud boosts business agility, scalability, and innovation—but none of that works without a well-designed security strategy. Choosing between an internal team or an MSSP (Managed Security Services Provider) is key: the former offers full control, while the latter provides specialized expertise, more predictable costs, and hassle-free 24/7 coverage.
Full Control vs. Specialized Expertise
An internal team gives you full control and deep knowledge of your operations. The challenge is that maintaining that level of expertise takes time, investment, and continuous training. On the other hand, an MSSP brings a multidisciplinary team that has already faced hundreds of scenarios and threats across various industries. That kind of experience is hard (and expensive) to replicate in-house from scratch.
24/7 Coverage Without the Hassle
Threats don’t wait for the weekend to be over. To ensure full shift coverage with an internal team, you'd need 8 to 10 analysts—an intense management and coordination burden. An MSSP already has that operational capacity in place, ensuring monitoring, detection, and incident response at any time of day.
Security: A Pillar, Not an Add-On to Migration
On-premise to cloud migration isn’t just about moving servers—it’s a key enabler of agility, scalability, and innovation in your business. But for it to work, security must be built into the design, not added at the end. That’s the only way to truly protect critical assets and fully leverage the benefits of the cloud.
Looking to Migrate to the Cloud with a Solid, Secure Strategy?
At TecnetOne, we can support you throughout the entire process (from planning to implementation) ensuring your migration is agile, secure, and aligned with your business’s real needs.
