Navigating Cloud Migrations

Three Key Takeaways from Montel Intergalactic

As cloud infrastructure continues to evolve, businesses of all sizes are rethinking their approach to scaling, securing, and modernizing their operations. In a recent episode of our Cloudscapes podcast, hosts Janikka Jokinen, Senior Account Executive, and Teppo Suominen, Team Coach, sat down with Lauri Kainulainen, CTO of Montel Intergalactic, to talk about cloud migrations, Kubernetes, and the future of cloud-native infrastructure.

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Here are the top three takeaways from the conversation:

1. Cloud Migrations Are Inevitable. But They Don’t Have to Be Intimidating

Kainulainen emphasized that nearly every company, regardless of size or industry, will eventually need to migrate to the cloud. While cloud adoption brings obvious benefits like scalability, speed, and cost-efficiency, the process of migrating can be complex — especially for companies with legacy systems and undocumented infrastructure.

“Migrations are scary because you’re often moving the beating heart of the company. But with the right expertise, it’s entirely manageable.”

Lauri Kainulainen, CTO at Montel Intergalactic

Montel’s approach? Make migrations modern and meaningful — not just a lift-and-shift, but a true modernization of architecture, tools, and practices. Their advice: don’t fear migration, but don’t go it alone. Lean on partners who understand both the legacy and the modern.

2. Kubernetes has matured. It’s changing how we think about infrastructure

Over the past five years, Kubernetes has transformed from a complex, hard-to-implement tool into a solid, production-grade platform. Montel now exclusively recommends Kubernetes to its customers because of its flexibility, power, and ecosystem maturity.

“Today, the hardest part of setting up Kubernetes on UpCloud is naming the cluster.”

Lauri Kainulainen, CTO at Montel Intergalactic

Thanks to tools and services from providers like UpCloud — such as managed databases, object storage, and developer-first interfaces — the infrastructure layer has become easier to manage. The real challenge now lies in designing scalable, stateless workloads and embracing higher-level abstractions that free up development time.

3. Security and AI are the next frontiers in European Cloud strategy

As geopolitical uncertainty and cyber threats rise, security and compliance are becoming non-negotiable concerns — especially for European companies. Kainulainen noted that demand for threat detection, infrastructure reviews, and basic security hygiene (like avoiding exposed databases) is surging.

“Security is no longer a checkbox — it’s a constant process. And it’s top-of-mind for every customer.”

Lauri Kainulainen, CTO at Montel Intergalactic

In parallel, AI is rapidly becoming a core part of digital strategies, with customers exploring machine learning use cases that require cloud-native, compute-heavy infrastructure. Montel sees 2025 as the year when AI will deliver real, tangible value to small and medium-sized businesses — not just proof-of-concepts.

The value of the right partner

Successful cloud journeys depend on having the right partner. Montel’s collaboration with UpCloud reflects this shared commitment to developer-first tooling, predictable pricing, and European data sovereignty.

From modernizing monoliths to running high-performance AI workloads, Montel and UpCloud are helping companies reimagine what cloud can do — securely, scalably, and with less stress.

“No company will win the market just by having the best DevOps team — but they can absolutely lose it without the right infrastructure.

Lauri Kainulainen, CTO at Montel Intergalactic

Tune in and subscribe now on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or YouTube to explore how European businesses are building secure, future-ready cloud solutions — one conversation at a time.