Security and sovereignty biggest concerns with growing cloud adoption

Summary

This blog post, "Security and sovereignty biggest concerns with growing cloud adoption", is a blueAPACHE article from 2015 covering security. New research from Vanson Bourne (commissioned by Tata Communications) reinforces that cloud can help make IT more relevant to the business. And while this isn’t exactly news, it is good to see that cloud computing is finally being recognised for its ability to transition technology away from the traditional silos and into something that better aligns IT with the business. It is written for readers evaluating emPOWER Cloud, emPOWER Security. The underlying security practice it describes, reducing attack surface and improving detection and response, is not tied to a specific product version and remains relevant to any organisation managing cyber risk today.

Key facts

Article

New research from Vanson Bourne (commissioned by Tata Communications) reinforces that cloud can help make IT more relevant to the business. And while this isn’t exactly news, it is good to see that cloud computing is finally being recognised for its ability to transition technology away from the traditional silos and into something that better aligns IT with the business. Also good is the confirmation of increased awareness around cloud security and data sovereignty. These should be on every organisations radars, especially with recent changes to the Privacy Act last year in Australia. blueAPACHE invested heavily in converged private cloud and hybrid cloud infrastructure with next generation firewalls built into the core. This was done to ensure client data remained in Australia and not overseas, security was transparent and privacy laws adhered to. Other cloud providers can farm data overseas – either directly or through redundancy and back ups – which could proffer data sovereignty (see our recent article on the Microsoft court case), security and privacy issues. These concerns validate blueAPACHE’s investments half a decade ago. Vanson Bourne, conducted a total of 1000 online interviews with senior IT decision-makers in private organisations of 500 employees or more during September and October 2014. The goal was to measure adoption of cloud computing and determine whether businesses had realised expected benefits from their use of cloud. Key findings from this report include:

Cloud computing has been widely adopted

97% of respondents say their organisation has adopted it to some extent, and 84% of those respondents say that cloud computing is already critical or very important to their organisation.

Extent of cloud computing use is predicted to increase

An average of 28% of the compute and data storage in respondents’ organisations is in the cloud at the moment, and this is predicted to rise to 43% within five years and 58% in ten years.

Cloud computing is an organisation-wide movement

68% say that moving to the cloud has involved individuals beyond the IT department and 90% say that requests from other departments have influenced the decision to implement the cloud.

Cloud computing has resulted in significant benefits being realised

More than half of respondents suggest that each possible benefit has been achieved in their organisation, the most likely being increased productivity and better access to data. Near 10% had their expectations exceeded for each benefit. Subsequently, 85% say that cloud computing has lived up to the hype, and 23% say that the hype has been exceeded. Organisations are moving from public cloud to hybrid or private. 57% of cloud adopters migrated some data back in-house from the cloud at some stage, primarily due to long-standing concerns around security and data protection. As a result of these concerns, 94% of organisations are now looking at hybrid cloud and private cloud options rather than public cloud.

Security concerns

72% of respondents identified security as a reason to bring data back in-house. A lack of transparency of the security (especially in public cloud environments) is an obvious challenge as organisations become more accountable for the privacy of their data.
Note: blueAPACHE overcome this by implementing next-generation Palo Alto firewalls connected to Wildfire directly onto the core.

Data sovereignty and protection

99% of organisations state data sovereignty is a consideration when looking at cloud. Knowing where there data ends up is a priority – some multinational cloud vendors will back up data to US or Chinese servers, where local laws enable provide third parties with access to the data. This is why 87% of respondents identify sovereignty as at least a significant consideration.
Note: blueAPACHE cloud infrastructure, redundancy and network all reside in Australia to provide 100% data sovereignty.

Private cloud is the focus

71% of respondents agree that private cloud addresses their security concerns better than any other form – private cloud has become the go-to method for organisations.,
Note: blueAPACHE provide hybrid and private cloud infrastructure housed entirely in Australia.

More information

To learn more about cloud, the new Privacy Act, security or data sovereignty, contact your blueAPACHE account manager.

Related

• emPOWER Cloud
• emPOWER Cloud (pillar hub)
• emPOWER Security
• emPOWER Security (pillar hub)
• blueAPACHE Cloud (case study)

Frequently asked questions

Who commissioned the Vanson Bourne research cited in this post, and what was its scope?

The post says the research was conducted by Vanson Bourne and commissioned by Tata Communications, comprising 1000 online interviews with senior IT decision-makers in private organisations of 500 or more employees, carried out during September and October 2014.

What percentage of organisations had adopted cloud computing, and how many said it was critical or very important?

The post reports 97% of respondents said their organisation had adopted cloud computing to some extent, and 84% of those respondents said cloud computing was already critical or very important to their organisation.

What growth does the research predict for the proportion of compute and storage held in the cloud?

The post says an average of 28% of respondents' compute and data storage is in the cloud at the time of the survey, and this was predicted to rise to 43% within five years and 58% within ten years.

Why did 57% of cloud adopters migrate some data back in-house, according to the post?

The post says 57% of cloud adopters migrated some data back in-house at some stage, primarily due to long-standing concerns around security and data protection, and that as a result 94% of organisations were looking at hybrid or private cloud options rather than public cloud.

What proportion of respondents named security as a reason to bring data back in-house, and how does the post say blueAPACHE addresses that concern?

The post says 72% of respondents identified security as a reason to bring data back in-house, and notes that blueAPACHE addressed this by implementing next-generation Palo Alto firewalls connected to Wildfire directly onto its cloud core.

What proportion of organisations said data sovereignty was a consideration when choosing cloud, and how does blueAPACHE address it?

The post says 99% of organisations state data sovereignty is a consideration when looking at cloud, with 87% identifying it as at least a significant consideration, and notes that blueAPACHE's cloud infrastructure, redundancy and network all reside in Australia to provide what it calls 100% data sovereignty.

What proportion of respondents said private cloud addresses their security concerns better than other cloud forms?

The post says 71% of respondents agreed that private cloud addresses their security concerns better than any other form, and notes that blueAPACHE provides hybrid and private cloud infrastructure housed entirely in Australia.

What does the research say about whether cloud computing lived up to expectations?

The post says more than half of respondents suggest each possible benefit of cloud, most likely increased productivity and better access to data, has been achieved in their organisation, with close to 10% having expectations exceeded for each benefit; overall 85% say cloud computing has lived up to the hype, and 23% say the hype has been exceeded.

Source

• origin post (2015)

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