The cloud is not like some magic beans that’ll sprout sky-high stalks overnight and lead you to a castle full of riches. Don’t be misled by shiny words such as “increased productivity” and “collaboration” — your organization won’t realize these benefits unless everyone actually puts in the work to make the cloud work. If you want to use the cloud successfully, you might have to change your mind about a thing or two before you migrate to the cloud.

We’ll just go ahead and say it: cloud migration is a smart business move and we highly recommended it. The potential for greater efficiency, more manageable storage capacity, and cost savings are all but guaranteed. Virtualization, however, is not a walk in the clouds.

Productivity, collaboration, freedom. These words are often touted when the benefits cloud technology are mentioned. But do all businesses that make the cloud switch achieve these? Unfortunately the answer is no. Some businesses flounder in the new technology, and some even become less productive because of it.