Security and compliance concerns eroding confidence in the cloud – Advanced research reveals

88% of firms say cloud providers need to do more to build confidence 

Concerns around cyber security and data protection are eroding confidence levels in the cloud, according to a new report from Advanced.

The British software and services company has found that half of the UK organisations surveyed[i] are worried about security and 45% about data protection and the geographical location of data. Almost a third (28%) are put off from using the cloud because of recent high-profile attacks.

Many businesses are yet to use the cloud – in fact, 24% have no experience in the cloud – suggesting there is a job for technology providers to do in reassuring businesses on the benefits of the cloud and that, if managed properly, it is secure and helps with compliance.

An overwhelming 88% of respondents said that cloud providers need to do more to build confidence levels in cloud adoption. When it comes to key attributes from cloud providers, security ranked higher than the usual benefits touted by cloud providers – 71% of firms look for security, followed by compliance (61%), data held in the UK (52%), flexible pricing (51%), migration support (48%) and scalability (33%).

“The findings suggest that many businesses are unclear as to how secure the cloud can actually be,” commented Jon Wrennall, CTO at Advanced. “Cloud providers are not being transparent enough on how they protect their customers’ data. With incidents around cyber security and compliance hitting the headlines again and again, it’s right for businesses to be concerned. But it’s a tell-tale sign that cloud service providers should be stepping up and squashing the biggest misconceptions around the cloud.”

“Cyber security should no longer be considered a barrier to cloud adoption – quite the opposite actually. The speed at which cloud services have matured and the complexity of the overall cyber threat landscape means that, managed in the right way, the cloud is arguably safer than any other service. Providers need to get better at communicating their security responsibilities as well as supporting organisations in being better protected in the cloud. In fact, they should be positioning security and compliance as major selling factors.”

One of the biggest misconceptions is that organisations think the cloud is less secure than its IT services counterparts. Currently, 51% fear that their data isn’t secure enough in the cloud and 49% believe that compliance with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) will become more complicated if they host their data in the cloud.

Finding the right technology partner in the journey to the cloud is therefore critical. Businesses are far more likely to trust those showing the ability to deliver continuous business improvement and take accountability for ensuring the transition to the cloud works securely, in accordance with data protection regulations and without interruption.

Other key findings from Advanced’s research include:

• 76% say the government should do more to protect businesses and their customers from a cyber-attack
• 53% feel they don’t control their data in the cloud
• 51% would not consider cloud-based applications as a first option when implementing new business applications
• 7% say their current cloud-based applications are not performing as they should be. 17% say some are but that others are failing

Jon concludes: “Organisations are starting to rethink their business processes in the digital era but, without the right support and reassurance, they will continue to dismiss the cloud. Moving to the cloud needn’t be so daunting and, at Advanced, we recognise that we have a duty of care to provide clarity on how data is being stored and secured in the cloud.”

For more details on Advanced’s approach to securing and protecting data on behalf of its customers, read here.

[i]Advanced questioned 303 decision makers in organisations across the UK between 13^th June 2018 and 12^th July 2018