A 2016 IDG Enterprise survey reveals the extent to which cloud computing has become a mainstream business practice. Respondents indicated that 45% of their applications and computing infrastructure have already been transitioned to the cloud, and they expect over half of their IT environment to be cloud-based by 2018.
Small and midsize businesses, too, have embraced cloud computing. In fact, it’s viewed as a priority by 96% of U.S. SMBs.
This puts increasing pressure on security officers and IT personnel to ensure the safety of the data that’s stored in the cloud—particularly in those companies that depend on public cloud resources. While private clouds allow for greater control of data security, they’re also costly to implement, and many businesses may not have the financial resources to implement a private cloud infrastructure.
Regardless of the type of cloud implementation your customers embrace—private, public or hybrid—there are some basic steps they can take to safeguard their data in the cloud.
- Use data encryption and password-protection before moving any data to the cloud. Better yet, opt for an encrypted cloud service—one that takes care of encrypting files as well as storing them safely on the cloud.
- Make data backup standard operating procedure. That way, no matter what happens, they won’t lose the information that’s critical to their business.
- Know where this data resides. This may sound like a given, but with so much and so many different types of data, it’s easy to lose track. Having dedicated hardware they can point to knowing with confidence that that’s where their data lives is an important first step toward data security in the cloud.
- Know the cloud provider and investigate their security measures. Check to see if they’re SSAE 16, SAS 70 and SOC 2 audited and whether they have clients that are HIPAA or PCI certified.
- Finally, whenever possible, avoid storing sensitive and confidential data in the cloud. While this may not be feasible, it’s ultimately the best way to prevent problems.
Security offerings to safeguard customers' valuable assets
To ensure that your customers have safeguards in place when migrating to the cloud, an even better approach is to leverage the resources of Ingram Micro Cloud. Ingram Micro offers leading-edge security software from top-tier vendors such as IBM, McAfee, Symantec and Trend Micro—including encrypted cloud solutions for IT and website security, endpoint protection, email encryption, data loss prevention, secure file sharing and compliance.
Ingram Micro Cloud can also be your fast track to building a cloud practice. We can deliver more than 200 vetted cloud services, all with 24/7 support—everything from cloud enablement services to security to backup and disaster recovery. By partnering with Ingram Micro Cloud, you can offer your customers all of the cloud application services they’ll need—and eliminate their having to buy or build out on-premises solutions.
Contact us today and find how Ingram Micro Cloud can simplify and secure your customers’ migration to the cloud.