Introduction
The cloud is a great tool for businesses, but it can also be an important security risk. That’s especially true if you’re using multiple cloud services or integrating with third-party systems that are connected to your company’s network. If you’ve never thought about how to integrate with the cloud before, the process can seem daunting—even impossible. But don’t worry! We’ve got you covered with these 10 steps for making sure your integration goes seamlessly:
1. Identify Your Cloud Provider
The first step in your journey to interoperability and portability is to identify your cloud provider. There are many questions you should ask yourself before making this decision, including:
- What are the strengths of this particular cloud provider?
- What are their weaknesses?
- What is their reputation in the industry?
- Are they known for having a strong security record or not so much (and why)?
Asking these questions will help you identify which providers will be best for your needs as well as give you an idea of how long it might take them to implement new features such as those required by HIPAA or PCI-DSS standards.
2. Define The Data You Need To Keep
The next step is to determine the data that you need to keep. As with any business process, this will vary by industry and company size. However, there are some commonalities across all organizations:
- Data that must be retained for legal reasons (e.g., contracts)
- Data that needs to be kept for regulatory compliance purposes (e.g., HIPAA, PCI)
- Data needed for reporting purposes (e.g., financial statements)
Finally, consider the purpose of your organization’s data retention strategy–in other words, why do you want to retain certain types of information? Are there certain projects or research initiatives where having access to historical records will help inform future decisions? Do certain types of records need regular updating so they’re always current and accurate?
3. Determine Who Needs Access To That Data
It’s important to determine who needs access to your data and why. This will help you identify the appropriate level of security required for each user, as well as their roles within the organization.
- Who Needs Access To That Data?
- Who Can Access Your Data?
- Who Should Not Have Access To Your Data?
- Who Has Access To Your Data?
- Is It A Small Team Or A Large Organization?
- How Many Users Will Be Contributing And Sharing Information With Each Other On A Regular Basis (e.g., Daily)?
4. Move All Data Off Any In-House Servers
The cloud is a great place to store your data, but it’s not the only place. You should also have an off-site backup plan in case the cloud fails or is destroyed by fire or flood.
You should also consider storing some of your most sensitive data on an external server that you own and control. This way, if there’s ever any sort of breach at your cloud provider (which happens all too often), only part of your company’s information would be compromised–not all of it!
5. Build Management Tools To Monitor Access And Usage Of The Cloud Services
The fifth step to interoperability and portability in the cloud is building management tools to monitor access and usage of the cloud services. There are many types of monitoring tools, such as:
- Performance Monitoring – Enables you to track how well your applications perform in terms of response times, response codes (e.g., 500), errors and exceptions raised by an application/service. This helps you identify bottlenecks that might lead to poor user experience or downtime for your users.
- Usage Monitoring – Tracks who is using what resources when so that you can better understand how your business operates on a day-to-day basis as well as predict future resource needs based on historical trends or forecasts made by analysts at third party firms like Gartner Inc., Forrester Research Inc., etcetera…
- Security Monitoring – Helps identify potential threats before they become real problems so that appropriate action can be taken before any damage occurs (i..e preventative measures). It also provides insight into whether there has been any unauthorized access which could lead down dangerous roads if left unchecked!
6. Create A Disaster Recovery Plan For Your Cloud Services
When you’re dealing with the cloud, it’s important to have a disaster recovery plan in place. This will allow your business to continue operating if an outage or data loss occurs, and it can help ensure that any issues are dealt with quickly and efficiently.
What should your DR plan include? It should cover:
- How often the plan is reviewed, updated and tested
- Who has access to it (and how they get access)
In addition to these basic requirements, there are some other factors you may want to consider when creating or updating your DR strategy. For example: Who will be responsible for implementing the steps outlined in this document? What resources do they need in order for them to carry out those tasks effectively (e.g., equipment)? How long does each phase of recovery take from start-to-finish?
7. Decide On The Type Of Encryption You Want To Use With Your Data In The Cloud
In addition to choosing the right cloud provider, you must also decide on the type of encryption you want to use with your data in the cloud. There are several different encryption options available today:
- Encryption at rest (AES 256-bit) – means that all of your data is encrypted while it’s sitting on disk or tape. This method prevents anyone from accessing it without first decrypting it; however, if someone steals your hard drive or tapes containing this information and takes them offsite (or simply destroys them), then there could be no way for anyone else to get at it either! This is why many companies choose this option as part of their security measures because they don’t want anyone else being able to access their information even if something bad happens during an attack against them.
- Encryption in transit (SSL/TLS/IPSec) – protects against eavesdropping over public networks like WiFi hotspots by encrypting all traffic between devices so only authorized parties can see what’s being sent back-and-forth between clients/servers etcetera.”
8. Encrypt Your Sensitive Files Before Moving Them Into The Cloud
Encryption is a method of protecting data by transforming it into a form that cannot be easily understood by unauthorized parties. Encryption can be done using a secret key, or a password. When applied to files while they are in transit, this is called “encryption at rest.” In addition to protecting sensitive information from unauthorized access while in transit and at rest, encryption also provides integrity checks on the data itself so that you know if it has been tampered with since being sent or stored.
9. Set Up A Method For Replicating Your Encrypted Files In Case You Lose Access To Them While They’re In Storage
- Set Up A Method For Replicating Your Encrypted Files In Case You Lose Access To Them While They’re In Storage
If you’re storing encrypted files in the cloud, it’s important to have a method for replicating those files in case you lose access to them while they’re in storage and need to recover them. This could be as simple as having multiple copies of your encryption key stored with different people who can help recover your data if needed (like family members), or it could involve setting up an automated process that saves backups of your encrypted files on other servers so that even if one server goes down or gets hacked into by a third party, there will still be another copy somewhere else online where hackers won’t be able to access any information about what those backups contain–and therefore won’t know how valuable those backups might be for selling on black market websites like AlphaBay Marketplace (which was recently shut down after its founder was arrested).
Integrating with the cloud can help you streamline your business processes, but only if you do it correctly
Integrating with the cloud can help you streamline your business processes, but only if you do it correctly.
First and foremost, you need to identify your cloud provider. This may seem obvious, but it’s also an important step in determining what kind of access to data they’ll provide and how much control over their infrastructure you’ll have. Next, define what data needs protection by determining who needs access to that information–and whether or not they should be able to manipulate it in any way (such as changing its format). Finally: decide whether or not there are any areas where security measures need strengthening before making your move into this new paradigm
Conclusion
The cloud is a powerful tool, but it’s not going to work for you if it isn’t integrated into your business processes. By following these 10 steps, you can ensure that your data stays safe and secure while giving workers access to the tools they need when they need them.
