As shown by disruptive businesses such as Airbnb, cloud computing is changing the face of business as we know it. Organizations of all sizes anywhere can now harness the power of cloud-based tools to innovate and collaborate faster and more seamlessly than ever before. As shown…
As shown by disruptive businesses such as Airbnb, cloud computing is changing the face of business as we know it. Organizations of all sizes anywhere can now harness the power of cloud-based tools to innovate and collaborate faster and more seamlessly than ever before.
Cloud is becoming the foundation for digital transformation, enabling enterprises to manage the pressure of increasing the pace of their production cycles and boosting collaboration throughout the world. McKinsey estimates that by 2018, more than half (51 percent) of enterprises will adopt cloud as their primary IT environment — up from just 10 percent in 2015. Indeed, it is no longer often a question of “if” but rather “which” cloud services enterprises should use.
Security concerns holding businesses back
Despite the benefits of cloud, many enterprises remain unsure whether to take the plunge or which applications to migrate to the cloud due to security concerns. When it comes to public cloud, research by the SANS Institute shows that security is the biggest barrier for companies to choose these services in particular, with 58 percent of enterprises worrying about unauthorized access to their network, while 45 percent are afraid of data loss. The SANS Institute figures also reveal that 40 percent cite unauthorized access to sensitive data by other tenants as the most pressing concern with public cloud deployments. Additionally, 33 percent of business decision makers feel that they don’t currently have enough visibility over their public cloud provider’s operations.
This does not necessarily mean that a private cloud is always more secure than a public cloud. Whether public or private, you need to choose carefully who you work with. Crucially, enterprises should first look into which cloud model best fits their needs. In doing so, the question of public, private or hybrid cloud is in large part determined by the desired level of control and reliability — which in turn impacts on the level of security of their cloud environment too.
So, before opting for a specific cloud model, companies should answer some basic questions: What type of a cloud model ensures regulatory compliance in your industry? What type of security and service assurances can the cloud provider offer? Where does your data reside in the cloud — i.
