The proliferation of cloud computing has streamlined operations for a wide range of businesses across the globe. Chief executives are gradually discovering the many benefits of the cloud and are adapting their business models accordingly.
The cloud can help ease the processes of data storage, access, backup and sharing, the last of which has been to shown to bolster employee engagement and collaboration. The technology can also significantly reduce a company’s carbon footprint and globalize a workforce at relatively inexpensive costs. Yet as more businesses and agencies adopt the cloud, cybersecurity will become increasingly important.
Study highlights growth of cloud sector
In a recent survey on the state of the industry, conducted by cloud management firm Rightscale, 93 percent of respondents said that they are running applications or experimenting with infrastructure as a service. Meanwhile, 82 percent of businesses use a hybrid cloud strategy in the beginning of 2015, compared to 74 percent over the course of 2014.
“The tide of enterprise cloud adoption has shifted from shadow IT to strategic adoption led by central IT teams,” said Michael Crandell, CEO of Rightscale. “As enterprise IT has become more open to public cloud and more comfortable with cloud security, it is now in a strong position to broker cloud services to internal customers and drive cloud adoption forward. In the next year, organizations expect to shift more workloads to cloud, with public cloud workloads growing faster than private cloud.”
Cloud providers tighten the reins
The days of unlimited access to public cloud networks seem to be coming to an end, TechTarget reported. After a few years of security lapses, unpredictable costs and a lack of visibility, cloud providers are tightening up their policies.
“It didn’t become apparent for over a year – the time it took for a budget cycle. And then, the [chief information officer] had to explain to the [chief financial officer] why we were over budget and why the available budget for infrastructure projects wasn’t there,” an infrastructure capacity management specialist with a global entertainment firm told the news outlet.
Biometrics can secure cloud networks
Any company that is investing heavily in cloud computing would be wise to implement biometric technology into their business model. This form of data center security requires personal identification to ensure that only the right employees have access control to confidential information. Dual-access systems, which call for two simultaneous IDs, such as a fingerprint and PIN, have been shown to be one of the most effective forms of cybersecurity.