Why the Cloud Could Be Your Most Secure Place for Data

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The heated debate over cloud versus on-premise has been going on for years, with both sides citing cost and security reasons to support their claims. As the debate unfolds, one thing is becoming increasingly clear – companies are doubling down on security.

This is particularly true in the cloud. In fact, by 2021, spending on global cloud security solutions will reach $3.5 billion, according to a forecast from research firm Forrester.

Though most are warming up to cloud security, in several industries there is still a misconception by some that the cloud doesn’t offer the same levels of data security as traditional on-premise data centers. Contrary to that notion, cloud providers often have far better security solutions in place than on-premise data centers.
For those exploring cloud solutions that still have reservations about safety, consider these reasons why the cloud could be the most secure place for your company’s most sensitive data.

Cloud has been designed to allow for strict authentication, authorization and accounting. It allows for data to be securely accessed and managed throughout its data lifecycle. Cloud provides a far more granular access control data model (e.g., a user can view and modify a dataset online), but can’t copy that data locally, where it is far easier to compromise. Cloud provides for a rich feature set that allows for deep data analysis all the while ensuring that appropriate security controls are in place (e.g., the data can then be viewed and analyzed online in the cloud, as opposed to having to copy a spreadsheet on to a laptop, where it would be far more susceptible to being compromised).

Cloud can provide far superior security than on-premise solutions, but organizations would be well reminded to exercise a healthy dose of caution as is the case with any move to a new service model. Highly regulated industries such as banking and government organizations still have concerns with the cloud when it comes to the control and transparency of their data.

As cloud providers and the underlying technology continue to evolve to address those reservations, a few industries will likely cling to on-premise, but the cloud is rapidly becoming the de-facto industry model for providing a modern enterprise computing service.