Whenever company data needs to be transferred from one place to another, a series of questions should be answered, particularly in cloud-based migrations.
First, ask yourself where your sensitive data is going. If it’s going to the cloud, can you rest assured that the cloud is going to continue to dominate for years to come? If the numbers related to cloud adoption keep growing, the answer to that question is a resounding “yes.”
Interest in the Cloud Is Growing
Gartner has predicted that the worldwide public cloud industry will grow 18 percent this year. Furthermore, nearly 75 percent of tech CFOs are saying cloud computing will have the most measurable impact on their organization this year.
Many companies are utilizing a hybrid cloud platform, which is increasingly popular because it allows a company to keep data on-site, while less critical data can be moved off-site. However, in a recent RightScale survey, 32 percent of respondents said their IT departments weren’t able to manage increasing workloads in the cloud – and this is a trend that seems to be growing.
IoT Taking Over
The Internet of Things (IoT) is among the hottest technology trends happening today, and it’s also driving the adoption of cloud-based solutions.
Many companies still rely on their premise-based IT software and the tools that go with it, but a larger trend is for cloud-based applications to take over because they offer more functionality than legacy systems. This assists companies in improving performance and productivity.
Confronting Fear
There are enterprises that still have concerns regarding their data in the cloud despite all of its advantages. Some have fears regarding getting locked in with a vendor, worrying that it comes time to migrate data and the cost of that migration process is revealed, it will be too late to back out.
There is also a rising concern related to application security even though most enterprises trust the cloud infrastructure.
Getting Prepared for the Move
What can you do to protect your data as you move it to the cloud? First, you have to know your data – what’s important, what’s not, what you want to catalog, and what should remain behind.
You also need to know your options and which cloud type fits you best: private, public, hybrid, or community. Once you’ve made that decision, determine who is accountable for the data that is collected. Further, encrypting data is important, and you need to decide who controls access to your encryption keys.
Backing up your data is among the first lines of defense, so make sure you’ve done this before you even start considering cloud-based vendors for data storage. Make sure the data is backed up in a fault domain that is distinct from where it is stored in production.
At TeleConsult, we know some of our clients have been apprehensive about the cloud, but we’ve proven that there is nothing to fear. We know how to manage a data center and keep our clients’ data secure and always available. Talk to us about what you should do before you migrate to the cloud.