DunstonIT -
The uptake of cloud solutions for businesses has massively grown in recent years, especially for SMEs, because of the major advantages it brings to IT expenditure and operational efficiency. Cloud computing is a cost-effective, flexible and managed solution that can allow information to be stored, accessed and more effectively used anywhere. If your business is considering adopting the cloud, here are the steps to take to ensure integration runs smoothly and works to its maximum potential.
Ensuring that your cloud provider is offering you the best suited service is crucial, as you’ll want to know that you’re putting your critical data in safe hands. As such there are a few questions you can ask your potential providers, to find out how the integration will work with your business and its needs:
• How will they store the data? (Check if it will be co-mingled with others’ data)
• Do they have any industry accreditations?
• How will they monitor, report and deal with security breaches? Ask if they can give you any evidence of their security track record.
• Who is authorised to do what and when? What will happen when someone leaves?
• Can encryption be used or permitted?
It’s vital to ensure you’re happy with the backup and recovery strategy they have in place if any loss or damage of data should occur.
When signing your contract, you’ll need to make sure that it includes information about the agreed access and authority, specifying the instances in which the provider can access the data. You will still be responsible for any personal data held in the cloud and will need to maintain sufficient control over it to meet legal regulations. Therefore the contract will need to confirm the security of the data, how this will be monitored and how breaches will be handled, and your right as a customer to access and manipulate it. Also confirm the provider’s exit policy – whether you’ll be locked into a long-term contract and if there are any early termination fees.
Before you move over to the cloud with your chosen provider, you’ll need to streamline your data to determine what is necessary to be moved over, and what can be removed or won’t be permitted; for instance, if you have a privacy policy in place which won’t allow the transfer of data. You may also want to place encryption, to industry standards, around any personal data to lower the risk of it being leaked or someone gaining unauthorised access.
To ensure you’re getting the best levels of service for the best value, make sure you monitor and evaluate your provider’s security measures on a continuing basis, checking for applicable any updates or upgrades. Staff should also be kept in the loop, with adequate training so that your cloud solution can be used efficiently. Security is a key issue here; you’ll need to ensure that staff understand their responsibilities and that they adhere to the implemented security controls.
