Cloud Source

5 Critical Cyber Security Elements for Hybrid Cloud

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The hybrid cloud is fast becoming the preferred model for companies wanting to harness the benefits of cloud solutions while retaining some control over certain data and processes.

IT security teams face a few critical challenges when addressing the variables of secure connectivity to company resources. Bring your own device (BYOD) programs and the hurdle of geographically dispersed teams are a couple of examples of the factors security teams must address. In some industries, there is the added stress of meeting compliance regulations, at which point, it may seem to make more sense to keep the data in-house.

In order to properly protect against cyber security issues while adopting a hybrid cloud approach, there are five critical elements that should be included:

Centralized Management Console: A high priority will be the ability to view and control all aspects of IT security via a central dashboard. Think about ease-of-use, resource management, and detailed reporting, as well as how to facilitate compliance and permit authorization to the cloud resources.

Identity Management: This is an important consideration when securing users and devices accessing the network. The best cyber security policies limit resources by role, with a zero-trust approach that assumes every user and device is suspect.

Integration: The best protection for data and systems always involves layers, so when assessing a hybrid cloud solution, look for features that allow easy integration with other solutions. A hybrid cloud solution that integrates with the most popular enterprise mobility management (EMM) is a helpful consideration as BYOD programs become common.

Scalability: Whether your company experiences rapid growth or has a seasonal component to demand patterns, the ability to scale up and down without hindering your business processes is a priority. Watch for a solution that avoids data center hairpinning but instead sends application data directly to the cloud for easier scalability.

Cloud Compliance: Companies that plan to embrace a cloud environment are often concerned about complying with industry standards. Host-checking capabilities examine the health and status of user devices, and this helpful feature ensures that access is granted only to authorized users.

BYOD programs can benefit from using device containers that provide a secure place to store work-related apps and data. This eliminates the need to control the entire device.

Companies who embrace hybrid cloud models will encounter a complex challenge when trying to balance performance, remote demands, and mobility requirements, all while addressing cyber security needs.

For guidance in choosing a hybrid cloud solution or assessing cyber security needs, contact us at Cloud Source. We can help you navigate some of the more difficult obstacles of the hybrid cloud while enjoying benefits like cost savings, scalability, improved efficiency, and better performance.

How Businesses Like Yours Are Utilizing Cloud Technology

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Chances are, you’re considering some upgrades to your systems and applications. While you’ve heard other business owners talk about cloud technology, you may not clearly know what benefits you would see in your day-to-day operations. Here are a few examples of how cloud technology and cloud applications improve processes for businesses:

Data Accessibility and Storage: With a cloud-based data center, you enjoy real-time access to data to make better-informed decisions. Any time any data is updated, that update carries across all devices, making it easy to know that the numbers you’re considering are consistent across the board.

In addition, cloud data storage offers innumerable benefits, including saving the space and expense required by an on-site data center. You also equip your team with a consistent work experience, allowing them to access data from any connected device.

Multicloud Computing: One option that’s useful for businesses beginning their use of cloud technology is the multicloud environment. This utilizes a combination of on-site, legacy systems with either public or private cloud solutions to optimize cost savings, security, and productivity.

For companies with highly-customized on-site solutions, or that work in an industry such as finance or healthcare where compliance regulations are rigorous, a multicloud approach allows you to place workloads where they make the most sense.

A multicloud environment can become complex, so you may want to consider a management tool that places all your systems and network management on a single dashboard.

Disaster Recovery: Using the cloud to strengthen your disaster recovery policy is a great way to leverage cloud technology. Hosted data centers are generally spread across geographic areas, so data backed up in the cloud won’t be impacted by a natural disaster. The real-time nature of cloud data backup also means that when you access your data, it will be up to date.

IaaS and PaaS: For smaller companies or startups, the ability to subscribe to an infrastructure as a service (IaaS) or a platform as a service (PaaS) helps you access the same technology that more prominent companies utilize. Rather than making a capital investment, IaaS and PaaS can be categorized as operating expenses and purchased through a monthly invoice. They are also scalable, equipping you to grow in the future.

Testing Applications: Cloud technology allows your company to test programs and applications from the public cloud. You can change parameters and make performance improvements without the costly and time-consuming process of installing hardware and software, helping you get your application to market sooner.

If you would like to talk more about how cloud technology might offer cost savings, streamlined productivity, or increased security for your business, contact us at Cloud Source. We can help you assess your needs and determine which initial cloud application would bring the most measurable benefit for a first investment.

Multicloud Trends: Gaining Efficiencies via Cloud-Based Solutions

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A multicloud approach to the evolving hybrid workplace is an effective way to support remote teams while pursuing a gradual digital transformation. Research from Gartner estimates that more than 90% of companies are pursuing a multicloud strategy.

Cyber security has always been a big issue, but cyber criminals are exploiting hybrid workplace weaknesses and many organizations are finding that expanded remote access has increased their security vulnerability. A multicloud strategy, when used correctly, can ensure efficiencies are attainable and risks are averted.

Advantages of Multicloud Environments

A multicloud approach can bring in a great deal of flexibility, especially for businesses that have an international reach. Multicloud environments allow companies to build resilience to protect against service disruptions and to increase cost savings by evaluating specific services through different vendors. Multicloud also eliminates vendor lock-in because companies can choose best-in-class features by mixing and matching the best cloud solutions for their workloads.

Some companies prefer a multicloud environment because they continue to use on-premise solutions. They may be in an industry, such as finance or healthcare, that demands specific compliance policies, or they may have a highly customized solution that cannot easily be shifted to the cloud.

Security Controls

Cyber security is a high priority and only grows in importance. According to Gartner, by next year, 30% of chief information security officers say their effectiveness will be demonstrated through their ability to provide value to their organization. The problem is that security controls continue to go up in price. However, multicloud strategies involve incorporating data analytics and business intelligence, providing an avenue for looking at the cost of a security platform and weighing those costs against their unique risks.

Recent Stats

In a report from Foundry called “2022 Cloud Computing,” trends were measured revealing technology choices among decision-makers. The report says that 69% of organizations have boosted their cloud migration over the last 12 months. When the report was published in April, it was estimated that within 18 months of that date, IT infrastructure in the cloud was expected to jump from 41% to 63%.

Contact us at Cloud Source, and we will assist you in all forms of multicloud management. We know that IT departments must continually sift through their options to find the right solutions, involving a bit of trial and error and leading to expenditures in cost and energy as well as a modicum of risk. When you partner with us, you sidestep the risk and get the solutions you need –instead of finding out the hard way that a solution doesn’t bring value.

What Is Cloud Storage?

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Technology has made it possible to create highly personalized experiences for customers, based on an acceleration in data insights. But for many companies, the headaches around data management and data storage can almost overshadow its benefits. If this sounds familiar, you may want to consider cloud storage.

If you currently store data in an on-premise data center, you likely have backup procedures to protect against natural disasters and cyber security threats. Managing all of that data takes time and storing it takes space. If you’ve been exploring options, you’ve likely heard about cloud storage as a valuable investment.

What Is Cloud Storage and How Does It Work? Cloud storage differs from on-site storage because data is stored in an off-site, third-party provider’s data center. The data is accessible via the web; data centers are spread across a broad geographic area, but the data is easily retrievable from any secure connection.

A cloud storage option can handle any type of files, including video, photos, text files, and presentations. It is readily accessible.

What Are the Benefits of Cloud Storage? Cost savings may have been the first factor that led to your interest in cloud storage, but there are several key benefits:

  • Cloud storage uses a subscription-based pay model, allowing companies the ability to categorize this spending as operating expenses, rather than a capital investment that typically comes with an expansion to a data center. One of the biggest challenges with an on-site data center is growth constraints, but with cloud-based data storage, the expansion possibilities are virtually endless.
  • Cloud-based services are inherently scalable. If your business has a seasonal element or if you have an upcoming promotion, you’ll see that storing and accessing data through a cloud-based service means only paying for exactly what you need.
  • If a widespread natural disaster occurs or your systems are breached by a cyber security attack, your data is secure and ready to be used to keep business processes in motion.
  • On-site data centers require IT management and maintenance, as well as extensive space, cooling, and power. A third-party cloud storage provider eliminates all of these challenges.
  • Third-party providers offer a more robust set of security policies and tools than anything you could employ in-house.
  • One of the benefits of cloud storage is the synchronization across all devices. For instance, if you have changed information in a file, that change is recorded so that when your colleague opens the file on a separate device, the change is reflected.

The next time someone asks you, “What is cloud storage?” you can walk them through all the clear advantages that it offers over an on-site data center.

Migrating to a cloud storage solution comes with a lot of critical considerations, but the path is easier with the right guidance. Contact us at Cloud Source for assistance as you identify your needs and then evaluate data storage options that fit best with your goals.

What Are the Benefits of XaaS?

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If you’re in the market for any type of technology upgrade, you’ve probably wondered if XaaS is interchangeable with SaaS.

XaaS (everything as a service) encompasses any type of cloud-based solution that is offered as a managed services option. They are subscription-based, with a pay-as-you-go model that appeals to many companies.

SaaS (software as a service) is just one type of XaaS. Even if you haven’t made cloud-based technology a central priority, it’s likely that SaaS is being used somewhere in your company. It may simply be a project management tool or communication app being utilized by one department.

In addition to SaaS, there are two other primary types of XaaS that many applications fall into:

PaaS, or platform as a service, offers hardware and software tools over the internet. It is useful in delivering virtual machines and for tasks like application development or testing.

IaaS is infrastructure as a service and provides elements like storage and network and server resources on a subscription basis.

There are additional types of XaaS that companies may employ to address a specific gap in their technology solutions:

  • DRaaS, or disaster recovery as a solution, is a tool to allow companies to regain business functions after a natural disaster or cyber security attack.
  • UCaaS, or unified communications as a service, is one of the most common priorities for cloud-based solutions. It offers a variety of communications formats in a single app that can be accessed from anywhere with a secure connection.
  • AaaS, or authentication as a service, handles the management of identity and access to your systems.

After seeing the benefits of a few as a service solutions, many companies have begun to take a cloud-first approach, actively looking for areas in which a cloud-based solution can multiply the benefits across their organization. These benefits include:

Cost Savings: The subscription-based pay model means that services can be designated as operating expenses, rather than capital investments associated with traditional technology purchases. In addition, XaaS solutions demand less in terms of servers, hardware, network switches, and IT management and maintenance time.

Less Overhead: Cloud-based solutions take up less space and require fewer resources related to power and cooling.

Scalability: While traditional, on-premise software generally demands that you hold a number of users that exceeds your actual use, one of the key benefits of XaaS is scalability. You are able to spin up more users in a matter of minutes and reduce them just as easily. For companies expected to grow and for those that have seasonal elements to their businesses, this feature offers a key advantage. You pay only for what you use.

Before investing in any type of XaaS solution, you may have questions about some areas, such as security or how much visibility you would have in a solution managed by a cloud provider. You might wonder whether it’s easy to cancel a solution that isn’t working as well as you had anticipated.

These are all questions that come up as companies explore cloud-based solutions, and Cloud Source is the ideal guide for walking you through each consideration for choosing the right technology. Contact us to get started examining potential options and to ultimately leverage the best solutions to move your company forward.

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328 S. Jefferson St. Suite 603
Chicago, IL 60661
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E: info@CloudSourceServices.com

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