Making Cloud Computing Secure for the Enterprise

Many companies are eager to take advantage of cloud computing, but concerns about possible security breaches and loss of data hold them back. Trust - or lack of it - is one of the primary reasons for the hesitancy of enterprises to put their data and applications in a multi-tenant public cloud. Security issues associated with third-party cloud environments continue to prevent organizations from benefiting from the cost savings and flexibility that the cloud can offer. This white paper from CloudSwitch explores how companies can overcome barriers to cloud security by enabling enterprises to run selected applications and data in the cloud with the same protection and control available internally.

For cloud computing to become an attractive option, IT and security executives need to be certain that their company’s applications and data are safe. But when the infrastructure is partly out of the enterprise's control, it becomes impossible to know if sensitive information has been accessed or compromised. Today, using a public cloud means moving from an internal environment where a company has complete control of data and processes to an environment where some parts of the environment belong to someone else, and are often opaque. This creates real risks and exposures that cannot be ignored.

One solution is to keep sensitive data within the corporate data center and put the other application tiers in the public cloud. While this approach works well for some use case scenarios, the latency impact of the “reach back” into the data center can be unacceptable for many applications and users. The other option is to move the entire application to the cloud – including the database tier – for better performance and scalability, but this exposes the application to new potential threats. For many applications, the only way to use the cloud safely is for the enterprise to employ and control its own end-to-end protection schemes - a challenge that has deterred many companies until now.

Using CloudSwitch, data in the cloud can now run under full enterprise control, making the cloud a much safer environment for a wide range of applications. Now an enterprise can take advantage of the proliferation of cloud resources hitting the market while having the security required by customers, regulators, and other stakeholders. At the same time, the company’s IT department becomes more cost-effective and responsive to the needs of the business. Click here to get a copy of this white paper on Making Cloud Computing Safe for the Enterprise.