A More Comfortable Cloud

Despite all the press articles, vendor enthusiasm and encouraging statistics – not to mention the genuinely compelling arguments on cost-savings and functionality – there are still significant concerns about handing over sensitive or mission-critical data to the cloud.

It’s an entirely understandable view. In a volatile, fast-moving world, sending key company information to be stored the other side of the globe might seem a wise move one minute and a miscalculated risk the next, according to changing circumstances. Consequently, many potential cloud users feel anxious about losing control of their data, yet they also believe that if they ignore the cloud, they will miss out on major benefits including cost-savings, improved functionality and the ability to store and manage data for real-time analysis.

The economic climate intensifies this push-pull dilemma further. It’s estimated that the cloud could cut IT costs in the UK public sector by up to 75% – a claim which is hard to ignore when government departments are committed to brutal cost-cutting. Besides, huge organisations such as the NHS, who are struggling with a mismatch of different systems and platforms, urgently need the lightness and flexibility that cloud solutions could bring.
Many government departments and businesses alike also need to update their server rooms and turn them into modern data centres as their data assets grow. Yet, there are many other priorities fighting for the little money available. Migrating to the cloud could alleviate this situation.

It’s not as though other methods of storing and sharing data are infallible. There have been all too many high-profile security lapses when confidential data is found on lost laptops and USB sticks or secret documents photographed in the hands of government officials. Perhaps data is safer when it’s centrally stored in a secure location and can be accessed from multiple locations, rather than being physically transported from point A to point B?
Yet, increased scrutiny of public spending and sensitivity surrounding corporate governance, has also made everybody more risk-averse.

Organisations need to trust and feel comfortable about their technology more than ever. The idea that personal data or competitive commercial information is being held outside certain boundaries, and possibly the other side of the world, might be a cost-saving too far for some.

So, how can these risks be minimised so that the cloud becomes a more comfortable place to be?

There’s a common misconception that if an organisation is looking for a cloud provider to store and manage its documents, ‘popular’ cloud vendors such as Google, Amazon or Microsoft are the safest option. These global brands are household names for a reason – they aim to be all things to all people. But, they aren’t necessarily geared up to respond to particular needs or to understand the complex requirements of particular applications and industries.

Often, this shows in the way the service is delivered or charged as well as in its functionality. For example, if an organisation is deploying an electronic content management (ECM) system, it doesn’t make sense for it to be charged by bandwidth or number of downloads, as the costs will be high. Instead, it needs to find a solution where the monthly charge includes unrestricted volumes of downloads.

Next, decision-makers need to look at the flexibility of a solution. For example, if they start off with an on-premises version, can they decide to migrate to the cloud at a later stage or are they locked into their first choice? Can they choose between a software as a service (SaaS) solution and one where they own the software, but is hosted by the vendor?

Business and organisational requirements change the whole time. What seemed like the perfect option at one point can become a costly error if there’s a change of focus or a re-organisation.

Finally, data doesn’t have to be held the other side of the world. There’s no doubt that customers have more trust in cloud computing when their assets are as close to their origins as possible – for UK businesses this means a data centre in the UK, rather than in another European centre or the US.

Keeping data close to its source means it is subject to local security legislation and guidelines rather than to the demands of foreign governments. For example, although the US Department of Commerce’s Safe Harbor principles comply with the EU’s Data Protection Directive, once European data is in the US, it becomes subject to the Patriot Act and under certain circumstances could be accessed by US authorities. Keeping data in its country of origin also eases the process of checking security protocols and business contingency plans.

In a world desperate to discover new ways to do more for less, either to remain competitive or to maintain a service to a standard the public has come to expect, the cloud has huge potential, especially for organisations needing to download high volumes of data using applications such as ECM. Choosing a tailored solution from a vendor with a data centre close to where that data has been created and deployed in a way that suits the business or organisation means that more customers will feel comfortable entrusting their data and won’t miss out on the benefits.