Using a cloud service as the central storage system or computational server for business is a common thing these days. Not only will you be free from the responsibilities to maintain the hardware, but the whole facility can be scaled up without you having to spend money on buying new equipment. But if you haven’t made that upgrade yet, don’t worry. This article is written so that your system transition can go smoothly and flawlessly.
Consult a Cybersecurity Expert
The primary issue of storing sensitive data on the cloud is about safety. In 2010, the giant Microsoft themselves experienced a breach, but it was fixed and restored in no longer than two hours. In 2012, you probably still remember that many high-profile figures had their NSFW photos leaked to the public because Dropbox was hacked. In reality, the case was even worse. There were passwords and emails of 68 million users hacked. However, this kind of incident has decreased significantly, especially with cybersecurity service on the rise. Therefore, before you subscribe to a cloud service, you’d rather work with a third party specializing in cybersecurity.
Know When to Use Private or Public Cloud
According to Forbes, 41% of businesses run on public cloud platforms, 20% on private clouds, and 22% use a hybrid system of private and public clouds. Therefore, this depends heavily on the scale of your business. If your company deals with a heavy load of sensitive data, such as health, military, and legal information, then a private cloud is the most sensible option for you. For others, public cloud platforms or a hybrid system are enough.
Understand the Cloud Economics
For a transition to a public cloud, you’ll have to be familiar with the TCO (Total Cost of Ownership) analysis of a cloud service, or you won’t get the most. Here are the detailed variables to look for at this stage: recovery policies, penalties, service support, training cost, and physical security cost. Cloud infrastructure can be agile, flexible, and highly scalable, but the price will also be higher. When you want to assess the TCO, look at the whole package. Don’t just make a comparison between server to server.
Consider the Backward Compatibility
Backward compatibility refers to the cloud system’s ability to accommodate apps that use earlier versions of data and interfaces. Most public cloud services don’t have this feature. If you have an important app that needs to stay in its incompatible version, your option is to make an integrated hybrid of public and private clouds.
Prepare a Continuous Governance System
If you let too much orphaned block storage in an AWS (Amazon Web Services) EC2 server, you’ll leave a chance for a hacker to access your data even though you have deleted the server. This happens because the block storage in an AWS does not automatically get erased. Moreover, the consumption of cloud storage can escalate to a concerning level if not monitored. You need a software that can perform continuous governance system if you want your company’s database and computing transition successfully to a cloud platform. …