Many IT managers are still reluctant to migrate from traditional on-premises data centers or colocation models to the cloud—or even to hybrid models. This hesitation often has legitimate foundations—technical, financial, cultural, or strategic. Below are some of the main reasons for this resistance:
1. Complex Technological Legacy
Many critical systems still run on legacy infrastructures that were not designed for the cloud.
Refactoring, rewriting, or migrating these applications can be expensive, risky, and time-consuming.
2. Security and Compliance Concerns
Managers fear loss of control, exposure of sensitive data, or non-compliance with regulations (e.g., LGPD, HIPAA, PCI).
The perception is that keeping data “in-house” offers greater security—though that is not always true in practice.
3. Perceived vs. Actual Cost
Many believe the cloud is more expensive in the long term, especially if not properly optimized (e.g., idle instances, poorly managed storage).
The pay-as-you-go model can lead to billing surprises if not properly governed.
4. Lack of Knowledge or Experience
Internal teams may lack the expertise to plan, execute, and operate cloud environments.
This leads to dependency on consultancies or MSPs, generating insecurity and fear of losing autonomy.
5. Perceived Risk of Downtime
Concerns about performance issues or outages during and after migration.
Especially critical in industries that demand high availability (e.g., healthcare, finance, utilities).
6. Organizational Culture
Some companies still value physical control over infrastructure.
There is resistance from traditional teams who prefer what they know (physical servers, on-premises routines, etc.).
Why, Despite All That, Change Is Inevitable for Many
Scalability, reduced CAPEX, faster time-to-market, rapid innovation (e.g., AI, data, automation), and global availability and resilience are clear advantages of the cloud.
Hybrid models are increasingly being adopted as transitional paths, balancing control and flexibility.
Why Migrate to the Cloud or Hybrid Models
1. Strategic Vision
The cloud is not just infrastructure—it’s an innovation platform.
It enables rapid experimentation, faster service launches, and continuous modernization.
Companies that leverage the cloud gain competitive advantages in agility and adaptability.
2. Reduced Operational Costs
Eliminates or reduces costs associated with server maintenance, cooling, physical space, and 24/7 support staff.
Pay-as-you-go models allow adjustments according to real needs.
Post-migration optimization commonly results in cost savings of 20% to 60%.
3. Scalability and Elasticity
Automatically scale resources during usage peaks (e.g., Black Friday, events, seasonal demands).
Avoids overspending on overprovisioned on-premises environments that remain idle most of the time.
4. High Availability and Business Continuity
The cloud offers geographic redundancy, disaster recovery, and high SLA availability.
In hybrid models, critical systems can remain on-premises while the cloud is used for failover or backup.
5. Security and Compliance
Providers such as AWS, Azure, and GCP offer infrastructure more secure than many private data centers.
Advanced controls: encryption in transit and at rest, managed firewalls, 24/7 SOC, regular audits.
Compliance with international and local standards (ISO, SOC 2, LGPD, HIPAA, etc.).
6. Adoption of Emerging Technologies
Enables the use of Artificial Intelligence, Big Data, IoT, machine learning, RPA, and data lakes.
All with ready-to-use services and low initial investment.
7. Hybrid Model as a Safe Path
Combines the best of both worlds: legacy system security and control with cloud flexibility and innovation.
A smooth transition strategy, reducing operational risks and cultural resistance.
Real-World Migration Examples
Netflix
Shut down its own data centers in 2016 and now runs 100% on AWS.
Achieves massive scale to serve millions of users simultaneously with high availability.
Petrobras
Uses a hybrid architecture with AWS and Azure.
Modernized geological data analysis and reduced costs by downsizing legacy data centers.
Magazine Luiza
Moved part of its systems to the cloud (GCP), improving response time for digital services.
Supports the growth of e-commerce and omnichannel innovation.
Santander Brasil
Developed a hybrid cloud migration plan focused on security and agility.
Uses cloud to accelerate the launch of new digital financial products.
Conclusion for Stakeholders
“Cloud migration—whether full or hybrid—is a strategic move, not just a technological one. It’s about ensuring long-term competitiveness, security, and operational efficiency.”