Tag: cloud computing

Categories
Press review Tech Magazine

IT as the Key for Resilience and Recovery

IT News

This global crisis has taught us a few things. One of the most transformative outcomes of the pandemic will be the collective realisation of what really matters in life – and in business.

Job stability and meaningful projects, health, human contact. At a time when we’ve come to question everything that was part of our day-to-day, technology has proven to be indispensable. A lifeline connecting us to the rest of the world.

Now more than ever, IT departments hold the key to organisational resilience and recovery. Find out why.

Head in the clouds

The cloud industry’s momentum seems unstoppable. It was only last week that we were discussing how cloud providers are extremely well-positioned to benefit from the current situation.

This week, we got some more good news for the cloud folk. Despite taking a considerable hit in online advertising, Google has increased cloud revenue by 52%.

Additionally, the company’s Anthos platform is now live on AWS. Additionally, Oracle has scored a major win by securing Zoom’s cloud business. Video calls have surged amidst the global lockdown. The American company has emerged as the biggest beneficiary.

News from the frontlines

A look at the week in tech news. Join us on a tour around the globe to see how tech is facing COVID-19 head-on. This week…

Tech giants, from NVIDIA to PayPal, have made a commitment to maintaining all employees throughout the crisis. This move, again, highlights the strategic importance of having a robust IT team. Even if it hurts you in the short term, it will prove more than worthy once the storm is over.

But some are not following this advice, endangering their operations, customers and partners. Some companies are trying to reduce overall IT costs by making their security experts shift to regular IT support tasks — that can prove disastrous for cybersecurity, accentuating the strain on enterprise networks.

Categories
DSI challenges IT Decision-makers

Industry Snapshot: Cloud’s Winning Proposition

Cloud momentum

Some businesses are thriving amid the global turmoil caused by the spread of COVID-19. Whereas whole economic sectors are falling victim to the effects of a quarantined population and the fall in demand, others find themselves in a privileged position to face this once-in-a-century crisis. This competitive advantage is particularly noticeable in areas like technology.

U.S. oil prices have turned negative for the first time in history. Traditional retailers are struggling to stay afloat, drastically cutting down expected profits for the second half of the year while delivering disappointing first-quarter results. At the same time, online retail moguls like Amazon’s Jeff Bezos have seen their net worth skyrocket since the lockdown began.

With the surge in remote work and internet traffic, businesses need IT now more than ever. Videoconferencing services and other collaboration tools are booming, while the rise in digital operations has multiplied the number of cyber threats and accentuated the cybersecurity skills shortage.

But that’s not all.

Facing a new reality

Many organisations were not ready for the sudden shift to digital and decentralised ways of working. For some, digital transformation went overnight from being a mid-term goal to a bare necessity. They were either relying too much on on-premise storage and computing, or perhaps they were simply not ready to have most of their employees working from home at the same time. This change in demand has propelled cloud services forward, with more and more clients signing up for access to IaaS and PaaS solutions.

The big winners

There are no clearer signs of the cloud’s buoyant momentum that the good results the top industry players have achieved during the first quarter. Even if overall company performance is not as strong.

IBM has seen the pandemic thwart what otherwise would have been a solid quarter of growth. However, the company claims hybrid cloud adoption has spiked as a direct result of the pandemic. IBM’s (and by extension Red Hat’s) platform and containerization offerings allow companies to quickly deploy and easily escalate business-critical applications – a major advantage in today’s everchanging situation.

German ERP powerhouse SAP has also managed to maintain strong cloud bookings. The company even managed to increase overall revenue. SAP S/4HANA gained an additional 300 customers in Q1, bringing the total up to 14,100 accounts. That’s a 23% increase from the same time last year. The results further demonstrate S/4HANA’s growing momentum and as the deadline to migrate to the newer ERP system approaches.

Additionally, and in what is another tell-tale sign of the health of the industry, Alibaba announced it will be investing $28 billion to expand its cloud infrastructure and semiconductor business. That’s over half of its revenue for the past fiscal year.  

Cloud providers and their customers are betting big on the cloud’s potential to protect company operations and speed up the recovery process once the crisis is over.

Categories
Cybersecurity Tech Magazine

Data security : Is your cloud data secure?

Data security: Is your cloud data secure?
How is your data security? Around 50% of all business data is already stored in the cloud, while 48% of this data can be considered sensitive in nature.

Digital transformation is well underway. An estimated 50% of all business data is already stored in the cloud; while 48% of this data can be considered sensitive in nature. These figures, which were reported on Monday in a global study by Thales and IDC, paint a promising future for the enterprise cloud industry. They also seem to signal growing confidence in the technology’s security and privacy capabilities. So, regarding data security, is your cloud data secure?

Data security: number and perception

The same survey revealed that only 57% of all cloud-stored sensitive data is protected by encryption, whereas 100% of respondents admit to having at least some unencrypted sensitive data in the cloud. One could think this constitutes further proof of the enterprise’s sense of data security. In reality, the number of respondents that feel their data is vulnerable to cyberthreats (86%) has increased considerably since last year’s report (67%). Furthermore, 47% of businesses report having been breached or failed a security test in the past year.  

There is thus a clear disconnect between the perceived levels of data security and the actual measures being put in place. Many decision-makers are not paying enough attention to their own danger alerts, and that is dangerous.

So — how can you tell if this happening in your organization? There are a few telltale signs.

Choosing the right multi-cloud partners

Achieving optimum levels of data protection is becoming increasingly difficult as more and more companies turn to different cloud providers to meet their various business needs. The vast majority of businesses (81%) report using more than one infrastructure-as-a-service (IaaS) and platform-as-a-service (PaaS) vendor. Meanwhile, 72% of organisations state they use between 11 and 100 software-as-a-service (SaaS) applications — That’s a lot of potentially breachable data living in the cloud.

Data security: how to implement a proper strategy

These multi-cloud environments add a layer of complexity on top of the already complicated world of cybersecurity. In turn, survey respondents identify complexity as the top barrier to implementing a proper data security strategy.

To protect data integrity, organisations must leverage the appropriate set of tools across platforms and partner with those vendors offering solutions that fit within their ecosystem. Ideally, your various security tools and protocols should cover both on-premises and cloud-based data and be compatible with one another.  

If that’s not the case, it might be time to review your security architecture. Putting together the right team has also become essential for multi-cloud success. Consider hiring a cloud security specialist if you haven’t done so yet.

Data vs network security

Despite 83% of organisations planning to either maintain or increase their security spending in 2020, the portion of the security budget destined to data security remains marginal at 15.5%. Comparatively, companies spend much more on network security. This seems to be due to another important disconnect — that between the major perceived security threats and the reality behind most data breaches.  

While more than half of businesses are worried about cybercriminals, terrorists and corporate espionage; everyday issues that tend to pose greater challenges to data integrity are often less cause for concern. Just in the UK alone, 90% of data breaches experienced in 2019 originated from a human error. Employee communications, system misconfigurations and privileged users with access to sensitive resources are all potential risks that network security cannot mitigate.

Data security: accesses and permissions

A great focus on data security is, therefore, highly recommended. Re-examine and restrict your access protocols and permissions, encrypt greater amounts of data and make sure to store and safeguard the keys properly. Moreover, invest in data recovery and backup tools.

Also, do not rely too much on your providers to protect your data. Sure, the cloud is fundamentally a shared responsibility environment. However, there are many proactive measures that you can implement internally to safeguard this data.

Remember – if there is a breach, it will be the company’s reputation the one to take the biggest hit, not the provider’s.   

The threat of emerging tech

Although most experts do not see widespread quantum computing entering the scene until 15 or 20 years from now. The security risks this emerging technology represents are already in the minds of business leaders. Around 72%% of companies believe quantum computers will start disrupting their encryption efforts within 5 years.

Quantum computations can potentially decipher most cryptographic key systems used today. However, the technology is still in its infancy, and companies shouldn’t worry too much about its security implications just yet. But, if you’d like to start future-proofing your system, there are several vendors out there already working with quantum cryptography methods.

Categories
IT Decision-makers Talent strategy

Building the dream team for multi-cloud success

Building the dream team for multi-cloud success
So, what specific roles should you look for when building the core of your dream team? Nemertes Research CIO John Burke proposes the following three. And we agree with him.

What specific roles should you look for when building the core of your dream team for multi-cloud success? Nemertes Research CIO John Burke proposes the following three. And we agree with him.

About 83% of companies are expected to be in the cloud by the end of this year. Moreover, the industry is experiencing a major skills shortage. That generates a considerable level of uncertainty for those daring to venture into the cloudy unknown. Especially considering the increasing complexity of the cloud environment itself.   

The multi-cloud environment of today requires organisations to establish proper processes and talent strategies to remain on the winning side. From designing a formal workload placement process, to carefully onboarding all employees accessing the cloud, there are many matters to consider

In a recent TechRepublic survey, over 67% of respondents said they’re currently using or planning to use services from multiple cloud vendors. If you are part of this collective, you are probably aware that identifying and securing the right professionals to build your team is of crucial importance to the success of your cloud strategy.

Multi-Cloud Success Team

Cloud solution architect  

Ideally involved from the beginning in the design of a cloud strategy that suits the needs of the organisation, a cloud architect is the one with the big-picture perspective. This is a vital attribute when pondering the strengths and disadvantages of different cloud providers.

Then, a cloud solution architect is responsible for monitoring its proper functioning and for looking into ways to optimize operations by continuously upgrading tools and services.

Cloud integration specialist 

Let’s squeeze a bit more out of the architectural analogy: think of the cloud integration specialist as the construction manager. While the architect designs the building, the cloud integrator is in charge of ensuring its correct construction. This, by managing and integrating the workflows of the many parties involved. In IT terms, that means integrating the myriad of tools, dataflows and workflows that collide in a multi-cloud environment.   

Cloud security specialist 

We’ve touched on this topic in other articles: when it comes to security, specialization is key. This is particularly true in a multi-cloud environment where threats are especially difficult to detect and cauterize due to the disparities in response time and security tools that come from working with several vendors.

Moreover, and as we’ve seen in our cybersecurity predictions for 2020, the vulnerabilities and sheer amounts of data of the multi-cloud are just too many and too alluring for hackers to ignore. Attackers will be doubling their attempts to breach into company systems through the cloud. They will even leverage the cloud themselves to launch more cost-effective attacks with greater frequency. Make no mistake — Dedicated cloud security experts are a must in this evolving environment.           

Categories
Growing your career: permanent & freelance IT Consultants

The 3 cloud specialists companies will chase

The 3 cloud specialists companies will chase
Let's discover what are the 3 cloud specialists companies will chase. What specific roles are going to be the most sought after?

Let’s discover what are the 3 cloud specialists companies will chase.  

Are you working in cloud or thinking of redirecting your career towards this rapidly expanding field? Well, you’re on the right track. About 83% of companies are expected to be in the cloud by the end of this year. That, coupled with the fact that the industry is experiencing a major skills shortage, means that greatness awaits those daring to venture into the cloudy unknown. Especially if you consider the increasing complexity of the cloud environment itself.

Need advice on how to start or develop your freelance consulting business in tech or IT? Need to start a new permanent or freelance assignment? Join Mindquest and get support from our team of experts.

Public, private and hybrid cloud

In the dawn of time, there was either the public or the private cloud. Then came the hybrid cloud, a mix of both public and private cloud that takes the best of both worlds.

Then, 2023 will be all about multi-cloud, the use of different cloud service providers to optimize business operations, lower costs and avoid vendor lock-in.  

Top 3 – Cloud specialists companies will chase

In a recent TechRepublic survey, over 67% of respondents said they’re currently using or planning to use services from multiple cloud vendors. If these stats hold true, the need for highly qualified cloud experts that can navigate the growing complexity will only increase.

So, what specific roles are going to be the most sought after? Nemertes Research CIO John Burke proposes the following three.

Cloud solution architect  

Firstly, ideally involved from the beginning in the design of a cloud strategy that suits the needs of the organization, a cloud architect is the one with the big-picture perspective. This is a vital attribute when pondering the strengths and disadvantages of different cloud providers and what workloads should be assigned to each one.    

Once the architecture is deployed, a cloud solution architect is responsible for monitoring its proper functioning and for looking into ways to optimize operations by continuously upgrading tools and services.

Cloud integration specialist 

Then, just to squeeze a bit more out of the architectural analogy, think of the cloud integration specialist as the construction manager. While the architect designs the building, the cloud integrator is in charge of ensuring its correct construction by managing and integrating the workflows of the many parties involved. In IT terms, that means integrating the myriad of tools, dataflows and workflows that collide in a multi-cloud environment.   

If you prefer being down in the trenches, involved in everyday operations, this might be the right role for you.     

Also read our article about Building the dream team for multi-cloud success

Cloud security specialist 

We’ve touched on this topic in other articles: when it comes to security, specialization is key. This is particularly true in a multi-cloud environment, where threats are especially difficult to detect and cauterize due to the disparities in response time and security tools that come from working with several vendors.

On top of that, and as we’ve seen in our cybersecurity predictions for 2020, the vulnerabilities and sheer amounts of data of the multi-cloud are just too many and too alluring for hackers to ignore. Attackers will be doubling their attempts to breach into company systems through the cloud. They will even leverage the cloud themselves to launch more cost-effective attacks with greater frequency. Rest assured — Cloud security experts will be in high demand.           

All in all, no matter what path you have chosen, or end up choosing in the world of cloud, this will be a land of opportunity for years to come.  

Also read ou articles: Data security : Is your cloud data secure? and Cybersecurity Careers Overview