Technology continues to move through inevitable cycles of adaptation, innovation, and change. With this comes several challenges that IT leaders must navigate, address, and consider.
According to the 2022 cloud computing survey by Foundry, an IDG company, 69% of organizations have accelerated their cloud migration over the past 12 months, and the percentage of companies with most or all IT infrastructure in the cloud is expected to leap from 41% today to 63% in the next 18 months. With these changes comes the need for controlling cloud costs, addressing risks including data privacy and security, and securing expertise across in-house and supplier teams. These are three key challenges that will determine the success of cloud investments in the months and years to come.
The survey also indicates that not only is cloud adoption on the rise, but IT decision-makers are beginning to prefer cloud-based services like SaaS when upgrading or purchasing new technical capabilities. With cloud defining the path for future IT infrastructure, what are the advantages and disadvantages to be aware of and how can IT leaders effectively address these key challenges?
Controlling Costs
The costs of owning, operating, and maintaining a traditional data center with redundant servers, fiber internet, and secondary buildings quickly add up; moving to the cloud delivers major advantages and cost benefits to any business. This is particularly true when considering SaaS alternatives.
In the Foundry survey, 36% of IT decision-makers stated that “controlling costs” is one of the main challenges when implementing cloud technology. Truth be told, there is no “one size fits all” solution for cloud investment, and hidden costs can severely affect IT budgets. IT professionals must assess and understand the best combination of cost and performance to meet their specific business and application needs. A “pay per use” consumption pricing model can create an economic advantage and a stable cost model that can be scaled as required, with predictable transparent pricing.
Managing Risk
Data security is a critical concern for any organization. It is estimated that an organization suffered a ransomware attack every 11 seconds in 2021, according to Cybersecurity Ventures, and it is expected there will be a new attack on a consumer or business every two seconds by 2031.
Data breaches can occur differently in the cloud than in on-premises attacks. In addition to traditional malware-based attacks, attackers can also exploit misconfigurations, inadequate access management, stolen credentials, and unsecured APIs.
Many companies may not realize that their existing security strategy and legacy strategies like firewalls, are not fully adequate to protect data hosted in the cloud. It is important for organizations to realize that current security postures must be reassessed when using cloud assets. Across the “shared responsibility” models of cloud, such as those offered with Microsoft 365 and other SaaS applications, both internal tech teams and cloud providers play a role in protecting any data for any organization.
A robust cloud data security strategy should cover all data across networks, as well as within applications, workloads, and other cloud environments. It should also include controlling data access for all users, devices, and software, and provide complete visibility into all data on the network. It is critical that this is applied across all types of data including “data in use” across all apps and endpoints, data in motion as it moves across the network, and data at rest stored in any location.
Lack of In-House Expertise
Following the pandemic, the remote workforce greatly increased workloads for IT professionals. At the same time, according to a Forrester survey, 51% of cybersecurity professionals say they have “considered leaving their job because of stress.” These workforce changes have created an unusually large shortage of cybersecurity skills. Cybersecurity workers protect our most important and private information, from bank accounts to sensitive military communications. However, there is a dangerous shortage of cybersecurity workers in the United States that puts our digital privacy and infrastructure at risk. According to Cyber Seek, from May 2021 through April 2022, there were 180,000 openings for Information Security Analysts, but only 141,000 workers are currently employed in those positions — an annual talent shortfall of 39,000 workers for cybersecurity’s largest job.
SaaS-based Data Protection Closes the Gap
With high demand and low staff supply, organizations are turning to cloud providers to fill the gap. As companies seek to ease the burden on internal IT teams and refocus on strategic business initiatives, having access to an expert external support infrastructure can eliminate the expense and risk of building in-house solutions.
Druva: Managing Your Data Protection Cost and Risk in the Cloud
Choosing the right cloud provider is imperative to the success of any organization. The Druva Data Resiliency Cloud delivers comprehensive data protection-as-a-service, allowing you to radically simplify your backup and recovery experience, accelerate and protect cloud projects, and elevate cyber and data resilience.
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