Dispelling concerns on cloud

BANGALORE, INDIA: How secure is my data on the cloud? While this question will be haunting the enterprises for some more time, cloud computing is set to make serious inroads into the small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), who have already started enjoying its sunny side.

Cost is definitely a decisive factor for the business, who are considering cloud as an alternative to the on-premise solutions. Businesses - operating within a limited budget, and opted for cloud services, have found that the benefits actually outweighs the concerns.

There is a growing number of first generation of entrepreneurs in India, who have innovative ideas, but don't have much money to spend on IT infrastructure, are considering cloud as the best option. We can expect to see a steady growth coming from this segment alone.

However, factors like data privacy, loss of control, integration with existing on-premise systems and security - are creating roadblocks for the cloud adoption among enterprises.

CIOs from a couple of large IT orgaizations, who were present in the IT, Cloud Computing & CIO Technology Legal Forum 2013, organized by Legal Era, gave first hand accounts of their journey to cloud, and shares some valuable inputs for the businesses who are considering a move to the cloud and yet not entirely convinced on the security part of it.

MG Raghuraman, senior VP and CIO, Mphasis, said, "Security is matter of perception and it requires a serious effort from the cloud providers to change the apprehensions about moving to cloud." Security breach or data leak can cause a serious damage to the reputation of the business. Therefore, it becomes important for the cloud service providers to demonstrate that they have the optimal technologies, infrastructures and processes in place to ensure data security.

By identifying the benefits, costs, risks, businesses can minimise the risk and uncertainty of the transition to cloud. "A complete risk assessment exercise can help enterprises map the key risk areas and also understand the available control measures. The insight can help cloud adopters as well as providers to create formal service level agreements (SLAs) documenting security metrics and terms." said Satish Kumar Das, CSO and VP, Cognizant Technology Solutions.

To get the maximum benefit from the cloud, understanding how cloud best fits with your organizational needs and broader business goals is very important for the organizations. Then, identifying the right offering from the right vendor is another important thing organizations must not overlook.

As the awareness on cloud grows, and businesses get the clarity on what they actually seek from cloud service providers, we will see the security concerns taking a back seat to the business benefits on cloud.

"Over the next three years, more and more enterprises along with SMBs will be keen to move their ancillary applications on cloud. The non critical business application like HR, payroll and accounting will largely be moved to the cloud, making way for a large incremental opportunity for the cloud service providers." said MG Raghuraman.

While cost and time to market will remain the two biggest differentiators for cloud services, growing competition will make cloud services providers pay better attention to the security, reliability, ease-of-use to convince the apprehensive buyers.