Innovation is perhaps the first reason why people begin to talk about the cloud as an option to leave behind the on-site infrastructure of organizations and seek that agility. Innovating is part of the digital transformation and it was accelerated by the change from the old normal to this new normal.
There are many definitions of innovation, among those that have caught my attention the most are: “innovation is turning an idea into a solution that adds value from the customer’s perspective”, “innovation is the application of ideas that are novel and useful” , “Innovation is about being sure to be relevant”; even Barak Obama, the now former president of the United States, mentioned that “innovation is the creation of something that improves the way we live.”
The cloud has proven to be a strategy that helps companies capitalize on new opportunities and differentiate themselves for organizations, even allowing to accelerate processes that were not possible before. It is the direct driver of innovation in a new information society, a society that increasingly requires more immediacy and availability with elements of reliability and technology.
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When were we going to think that a complete infrastructure would be within reach of a click? I remember that years ago to increase the infrastructure it was necessary to speak to the supplier to take an order and send the equipment a month later to be able to configure them. Those times are behind us, one can have a series of servers in a matter of minutes. In other cases, the same infrastructure is modified according to the requirements that are presented.
The main reason why an organization moves to the cloud has to do with cost reduction, from the pay-per-use schemes, the flexibility that allows making changes without impacting the company in the long term and finally being able to change the cost of capital to operating expense (CAPEX vs OPEX).
But you don’t always have to see the economic part at the beginning. The cloud, like everything, brings many advantages, but also some risks.
It is possible to implement the basic concepts of cybersecurity: Confidentiality, Integrity and Availability in the different cloud services that are going to be implemented. It complements business continuity plans, can become our alternate data center, part of the disaster recovery plan, and much more.
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But there is always a but. The cloud in many cases does not have cybersecurity elements by default or activated. Also in other cases you will have to make sure that they are properly configured.
There have been many cases where a database administrator forgot to set a password to a database allowing it to be accessed from the Internet. Something that has even led the personal data protection authorities to fine the company related to this.
The flexibility of the cloud can lead to a lack of control and lack of visibility. Administrators who implement without a strategy may be creating a web of infrastructure that will later be more difficult to integrate and secure.
The option for use without a limit can generate an uncontrolled expense or until certain resources are used indiscriminately.
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Simply by going to the cloud you don’t have cybersecurity. Several actions have to be done to be able to secure the infrastructure, a strategy and complement it with the risk analysis and tests that would normally be done to any infrastructure.
So, it is not time to limit or block the migration project to the cloud, nor the digital transformation of the organization towards the cloud. Better find the strategist and ask how cybersecurity will be incorporated into this project or migration. Try that cybersecurity is present from the creation of the idea, from the beginning of innovation and not at the end of the project to validate that there are no risks.
In the end, a pilot always checks in advance if an aircraft is capable of flying; I have never seen a pilot start the takeoff run and in the air check for fuel and oil. It will always do so when it is at ground level. The same should be cybersecurity.
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