Cloud technologies are common practice in businesses, but IT leaders are still wary. Almost half of IT decision makers admit that they are very or extremely anxious about the security implications of cloud services, according to a BT survey.
This uncertainty stems from a number of myths that are stopping businesses from embracing the cloud. Here are three of the most common myths about extending your data integrations to the cloud, and why you shouldn’t let them hold you back.
There is an assumption among some IT professionals that having greater control over your data centre automatically means greater security. This assumption leads to the belief that data is more secure if it’s stored in on-site or dedicated data centres.
In reality, the biggest cybersecurity threats are inside your business. Human error and employee misuse are the most common security vulnerabilities and keeping data in on-premise servers actually exposes them to more of this risk. In addition, cloud providers like Microsoft can invest more in resilience, redundancy and security than most companies.
The biggest flaw with this notion is that legacy solutions are now ill-equipped to deal with modern threats to a business. What was once strong and reliable is now outdated and poses a serious risk.
Modern workplaces that adopt flexible practices like Bring Your Own Device or remote working, need up-to-date technology to remain secure. Legacy solutions simply cannot adapt to these new environments and workarounds create new vulnerabilities.
Many businesses assume that migrating data to the cloud could make it harder to ensure compliance with data protection regulations, but that’s not the case. Cloud tools like Azure Security Centre is built with compliance in mind, operating in-line with the new General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR), which comes into effect in May 2018.
Updating on-site servers to keep up with these regulations, then, is not only costly – it’s all your problem – but also burdensome on your business. By deploying through a trusted cloud vendor like Microsoft, you can operate knowing that you have greater control, transparency and security over your data without worrying about failing to meet data policies.
Overcoming a fear of the cloud will not happen overnight, but businesses should recognise that to safely enable modern working practices, it is the way forward. To avoid it entirely means holding your organisation back and letting the competition lead the way.
If you’re interested in taking your business forward with the cloud, please contact us at to learn more about the benefits of the cloud