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Moving To The Cloud

Since its introduction to the business world, the cloud has quickly established itself as one of the most integral technologies in modern society. In the private and professional worlds, the cloud has delivered a range of benefits, from convenient access to data to cost-savings in hardware reduction.

However, as with any technology as popular as the cloud, it’s common for there to be some misinformation circulating…

3 Cloud Misconceptions You Need To Clear Up

1. The Cloud Is Automatically Secure
 Wrong – in fact, According to the Cloud Security Business RedLock and its Cloud Security Trends report, more than 50% of businesses that use cloud services like Amazon Simple Storage Service (S3) have unintentionally exposed at least one of these services to the public.

This growing trend of unsecured cloud configurations is due to businesses neglecting known vulnerabilities in the cloud, or failing to properly assess their cloud environment to discover unseen security risks. RedLock researchers found that:

  • 38% of organizations have had an administrative user account compromised
  • More than 80% of businesses fail to mitigate cloud vulnerabilities
  • 37% of databases accept inbound connection requests from the Internet, seven percent of which receive requests from untrustworthy IP addresses

Protecting the privacy of your clients and the security of their personal information is your business’ number one priority, and while it might not seem like it at first glance, the cloud is more than capable of helping your business to do just that.

You need to make sure you have the necessary range of security features enabled when you use the cloud, such as:

  • Encryption as a Service
     Encryption makes sure that even if data is unlawfully accessed and stolen, it will be completely unreadable and unusable to the thief, which helps to protect you, your employees and your business contacts.
  • Intrusion Detection
    Monitoring of your cloud configuration to detect, prevent and report potential breaches around-the-clock is the best way to keep unwanted visitors out.
  • Virtual Private Network
     Implementing a Virtual Private Network (VPN) is a great way to keep your data safe, especially when using unfamiliar Wi-Fi networks. Whether traveling or just checking email at the local coffee shop, investing in and using a VPN makes sure that no unwanted third party can get into your cloud-based data at the same time you’re accessing it.

2. There’s Only One Option
 Again, this isn’t true. There’s an important choice to be made when it comes to the cloud solution you choose to use – will you manage it firsthand, or have someone else handle it for you?

As with any of these examples, it depends on a few key considerations:

  • Capabilities: This is as straightforward as it gets – do you have the expertise and skillsets available on your staff necessary to deploy, manage and maintain a cloud environment for your business?
  • Resources: Similarly, do you (and your staff) have the time needed to oversee the performance of a cloud solution? Conversely, would you prefer to budget for an outsourced team to handle it for you?
  • Control: Lastly, is cloud management something that you’re willing to outsource? For some, it’s so vital a part of the services they depend on that they’d simply rather handle the work themselves in order to maintain their peace of mind that it’s being handled properly.

3. Migration Is Simple
 To those who are unfamiliar or uncomfortable with technology, the prospect of changing the fundamental nature of their IT environment from top to bottom is simply too much to ask.

Even when the benefits of transitioning to a new cloud solution are clear and verifiable, many would prefer not to go to the effort and expense of switching IT models.

Honestly?

For a time, that was a fair argument. The process of pulling apart an on-premise IT environment, reducing hardware, and then building a new environment in the cloud that would do all the same things was a long, tedious and stressful process to undertake.

But today? You don’t have to anymore. Many popular cloud platforms offer intuitive and low-risk migration features.

That said, it’s even wiser to work with an expert IT support company that can oversee the migration for you, making sure that there’s no unnecessary downtime or lost files.

Isn’t it about time you had an IT partner that takes cares of all your IT needs, so you can focus on running your business?

Give us a call at (518) 459-DATA (3282) or send an email to info@thedatacenterny.com for more information about our IT services.