Cloud technology is the future for the business-world. According to KPMG, it’s now used by most organisations. However, with this new technology come new risks for company information security, and it is important for HR teams to ensure that they update company IT policies to adequately protect business interests. What’s different about cloud computing? Cloud systems are often different from the traditional IT infrastructure set up by a company itself because they are normally provided […]
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The farthest-reaching changes in the IT industry often occur when a single new development simultaneously responds to the needs of both consumers and business users. Perhaps the best-known example of this kind of wave was the original PC: office workers used PCs during the day for their business tasks and then used the machine when they got home to play games (and often vice versa). The Web was also adopted in equal measure by consumers […]
Given the ever-increasing reliance on cloud computing, it is inevitable that disputes and litigation will increase between corporations and cloud service providers. The most obvious point of contention will occur if data in the cloud is lost, damaged, stolen or is otherwise rendered inaccessible for a period of time. In such circumstances, the corporation may be facing enormous liability and will seek to hold the cloud provider responsible, while the cloud provider will undoubtedly look […]
Industry experts and cloud service providers are hopeful about the prospects of a new federal program that sets cloud computing security standards, but they also note some potential pitfalls. For one security expert, the program represents a lost chance to improve cybersecurity. The Obama Administration last month launched the Federal Risk and Authorization Management Program (FedRAMP), which sets a standard approach for assessing the security of cloud services and products against a baseline of controls. […]
Next month – all being well – the UK Cabinet Office will lift the lid on what form the UK public sector Cloud Computing strategy will take. Notably absent from the national ICT strategy announced back in April, Cloud has not been forgotten, but the grandiose plans for an over-arching G-Cloud that were being formulated under the New Labour administration have been scaled down. Exactly what form the revised Cloud thinking will take remains to […]
The benefits of cloud services are often cited. They’re low-cost. They’re scalable. They’re permanently state-of-the-art. However, at least with traditional IT outsourcing, the customer can negotiate a balanced, even a customer-friendly contract. Cloud customers usually have little option but to accept standard T&Cs. It is a utility model, where multiple users each buy a slice of the same pre-existing service. Providers tend to have the “take it or leave it” mentality of a gas or […]
CSO recently interviewed Gary Loveland, a principal in PricewaterhouseCooper’s advisory practice and head of the firm’s global security practice, about the latest in cloud security issues. Loveland has functioned as a data security officer and has recommended and implemented security strategies in large-scale business environments. CSO: What do you consider to be the most serious security threats related to cloud computing? Loveland: One of the most serious security threats to cloud computing is the fact […]
No doubt you are seeing more and more information about the value of moving IT services “into the Cloud.” But do you know exactly what that means? Does anyone? Before moving into the world of Cloud computing you must first gain a holistic view of your current IT environment and future business objectives. This way you will have a better understanding of the current realities and future possibilities available to your organization in the Cloud. […]
This time last year I took the rather brazen step of optimistically suggesting that IT spend would recover from its annus horribilis in the new year. But even with a record number of costly tech disasters around data loss and security, lessons still are not being turned into budget realities. It is apparent to me that, for a great number of organisations, recession may have technically left the building but in the world of IT […]
Accenture has an in-depth report with advice on how banks should view and implement cloud computing services. Here is an excerpt on the process banks should follow to make the move. I think these steps apply to any business considering the move to the cloud: As they plan their migration to cloud computing, bank executives should consider the following actions. Ask hard questions and demand data-based analyses regarding cost savings. Don’t assume automatic and substantive […]
Great article on the difference between manages services and cloud computing: I have posted previously that there is a lot of confusion and debate about terminology and definitions of cloud. The problem of using such a broad term like “cloud computing” is that there are so many variations with the possible deployment models and when you say “cloud” it means different things to different people. Using the phrase “we are going to the cloud” can […]