What are the security factors that matter when migrating to the cloud?

MIGRATING to the cloud is key for businesses that still rely on legacy systems or on-premise infrastructure.

To survive in the digital age, they need to move their applications and workload to the cloud and work within a scalable, cost-effective, and flexible environment.

In fact, according to a report, 73 percent of businesses have already migrated to the cloud or have at least some part of their workload running on the cloud.

Nevertheless, a commonly overlooked concern is the security measures that need to be applied during the migration.

This is because there is a common misconception that security measures and policies implemented across on-premise infrastructures would automatically work on the cloud.

Cloud security needs thought, and neglecting the issue may result in the loss of data during or after the migration process because the move from on-premise to the cloud involves a shift in the computing environment.

Naturally, the change in the environment indicates an inconsistency in the infrastructure system which can create security gaps as each system would require different capabilities.

This would not only lead to the loss of data, but also harm businesses, disrupt work processes, and tarnish the trust built between businesses and customers.

Hence, there is an increasing need to address security concerns and practice reasonable measures to help secure the migration process.

First and foremost, any business migrating to a cloud-enabled environment must remember that an understanding of the current security system and the capabilities of the chosen cloud infrastructure is the best starting point.

If security measures were ignored when building on-premise infrastructure, a security strategy team needs to be created before the migration.

Moving on, businesses need to formulate the right security policies outlining requirements that need to be met for data to be processed and stored on the cloud, governance, and other issues.

Compliance standards should also be acknowledged to better protect data when moving from on-premise infrastructure to the cloud.

Among other things, clear communication between decision-makers, IT teams, and security managers is needed to ensure the migration is handled smoothly and without interrupting ‘business as usual’.

Lack of communication and unsynchronized migration can expose the businesses to attacks where customers and employees are denied service.

Keeping everyone involved informed and on track with the goals, security concerns, and migration needs is key.

Managers running the migration project and all team members involved must adopt a security-first mindset and be open to leveraging suitable solutions in the market in order to make a successful move in a secure manner.

As much as being progressive is a desirable quality, being careful and attentive ultimately pay-off in the long run when moving to the cloud.