Transitioning To The Cloud? Read This First.
Due to reduced costs and improved scalability and efficiency, cloud technology is rising in popularity in the enterprise space. As companies continue (or begin) to transition aspects of their business to the cloud, they should closely exam the benefits and associated risks of each component.
While virtually all business operations have the potential to be moved to the cloud, as this transition is made, businesses should keep in mind four key considerations:
- Ownership - Who owns the data?
- Availability - Will the data always be available when you need it
- Confidentiality - Is the data private and secure?
- Price - What are the economics of a cloud hosting vs. in-house?
There are no right or wrong answers to these questions—they should simply serve as a guide for companies looking for cloud-based solutions.
Ultimately, the most critical piece of cloud-based security is the management of the encryption keys. If proper safeguards are not in place that insure the protection and safety of these keys, we believe that they should be housed on-premise.
This is especially true when considering the increasing frequency and impact of data breaches in today's business environment. The number of U.S. data breaches in 2014 hit a record high of 783, according to Identity Theft Resource Center. Further, the Ponemon Institute reported that a staggering 43% of companies have experienced a data breach in the past year.
Businesses should continue to leverage the many benefits and efficiencies of cloud-based communication, data storage and business processes. However in doing so, they must always do their due diligence to ensure the cloud provider has the proper security protocols in place before trusting them with their valuable content, assets and information.
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