Tips for a secure and smooth transition to cloud computing services

07 September 2011 17:24:03

Many experts believe that security concerns are the last and largest hurdles cloud computing must surpass to become a more commonly used form of IT. While some cloud-service providers and regulatory entities work to find ways of securing the cloud and make organizations more comfortable with the technology, the executives and IT departments of each business are tasked with ensuring safe use.

Voice and Data Online recently published an article explaining the steps organizations can take to successfully and securely adopt cloud-based services. The information, provided by a cloud security expert based in Australia, implies that employees of each given organization need to be adequately trained and familiarized with the technology to properly implement and manage the services.

According to the source, identity management is one of the more complex tasks for securing data in the cloud. The source explains how executives, management and IT personnel should collectively manage the access rights of internal personnel, as a faulty access rights policy could result in a serious security breach from either internal or external entities.

As the majority of organizations that have already adopted cloud-based services do not use them for all operations, access and identification management is even more difficult. One solution is using identity-as-a-service, while other access management options are available presently, and the website predicts a program will be created to integrate access and identity management through all levels in the near future.

The website also believes that automation tools pertaining to data integration and applications will be among the most important steps for organizations to successfully adopt the cloud. Automated migration tools will be of special importance during the transition period, while businesses will be tasked with company-wide assessments of existing systems, management of those systems, types of cloud services and the decision of cloud models.

The source notes that the difference between the public, community, private and hybrid clouds need to be assessed by all levels of the company, be it IT departments, executives, sales staff, management or otherwise. This, the website affirms, can ensure that communication between different pieces of the business remains clear, lowering the risk of a costly error during cloud integration and the subsequent management of services.

Though security practices have not been standardized across the cloud industry yet, some entities are leading the technology in the right direction. For example, the Cloud Security Alliance is scheduled to release a Security, Trust and Assurance Registry later this year that will help improve the transparency of cloud service providers and policies across the industry.

-McAfee Cloud Security