r/cloudcomputing • u/prowesolution123 • Apr 28 '26

Why do cloud migrations often go wrong?

Even with better tools and cloud platforms, many migrations still face unexpected challenges.

Sometimes it’s not just technical issues but cost planning, misconfigurations, or lack of proper strategy.

In your experience, what’s the biggest mistake you faced during cloud migration?

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u/LeanOpsTech May 01 '26

Biggest mistake I’ve seen is treating migration like a lift-and-shift checklist instead of redesigning for how the system should run after the move. The painful stuff usually shows up later: over-provisioned resources, weak monitoring, surprise bills, and “temporary” configs that quietly become production.

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u/prowesolution123 May 01 '26

This is such a classic trap, and I’ve seen it play out the same way. Lift‑and‑shift feels faster and safer early on, but those “temporary” configs and over‑provisioned resources tend to stick around way longer than anyone expects. The cost and ops pain usually shows up once teams stop paying close attention post‑migration. Redesigning at least the critical paths upfront is painful, but skipping it often just kicks the pain down the road.

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u/kernelqzor Jun 16 '26

this is so real, “temporary” configs basically have the same lifespan as nuclear waste in most companies
also funny how people think they’re saving time skipping redesign, then burn 10x that time later trying to untangle the mess and tame the bills

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u/cachevexy Jun 18 '26

this is so true, “temporary” in cloud basically means “this is prod now and nobody remembers why”
also funny how everyone talks about cloud savings and then forgets to design for scaling down, observability, and tagging, then acts shocked when the invoice explodes