Placing your data in the cloud is not the end of your digital transformation journey. It is only the beginning. As your organization evolves, your cloud data needs change. And at some point, you will undoubtedly need to migrate your data to a different cloud service that better meets your requirements, or perhaps even migrate back to your own private cloud. This means navigating a multi-cloud reality filled with advantages, but also pitfalls. 

According to a study by IDC Nordic, 4 out of 10 organizations expect to move their data and workloads from their current cloud services to either new public cloud services or to a private on-premises cloud. This makes for a market in continuous flux as the data-driven organizations of today shift between solutions and search for ways to integrate data management across solutions.  

With the need to store data in more cloud services comes a risk of losing control of your organization’s data. On the other hand, with good multi-cloud services management, the big win is a more agile digital transformation and more successful IT strategy execution.  

A price for moving data away from the cloud 

One consequence of the growing complexity of the cloud services is that organizations must keep a sharp eye on the fine print in their Service Level Agreements (SLA). This is where most cloud services providers stipulate the egress fees you have to pay if you want to move your data away from their cloud. Basically, it’s a fee that many organizations only learn about when it comes time to leave the service. And unfortunately, moving data tends to come with a serious case of sticker shock, because organizations aren’t up to speak on the details of their SLA with their cloud services provider.  

Another important thing to remember is that you will rarely have a backup of the data your store in a cloud service, or the backup provided is just a mirror of the cloud data. But this can be dangerous, because you end up putting all your eggs in one basket.  

Have an exit or migration plan  

A Backup-as-a-Service (BaaS) solution ensures that the cloud isn’t the end of the line by offering a range of advantages for your organization’s multi-cloud journey. With a B4Restore Backup-as-a-Service solution, for example, you will always have a backup of your data on a national, third site (owned and operated by B4Restore).  

This enables you to take back control of your cloud data and makes an exit or migration from your current cloud services provider possible. This not only covers your demand for a solid backup of your cloud data, it also meets the fluctuating data needs of your organization. 

Click here to download the entire IDC Nordic report, “Data Management and Storage in Digitally Transformed Businesses”.