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Cloud Computing Trends, Challenges & Provider Insights in 2023

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Cloud Computing Trends

Earlier this month, CRN published a story covering Flexera’s 2023 State of the Cloud Report.  Flexera provides software and systems to manage enterprise private and public clouds.  The report on cloud computing trends originates with an annual survey of 750 technology leaders across sectors, geographies, and size of the business.  While the report classifies small and midsize businesses as those with under 1,000 employees, we still find the results interesting and relevant.

As small businesses, our concerns are spending, security, compliance, and managing cloud services. The cloud model hits our income statements and balance sheets differently than historical IT services. The need to protect our businesses, and our customers, has never been greater. And, we find it difficult to understand if we are spending efficiently and effectively.

We take a look at the top 3 cloud challenges, discuss managing clouds, and explore cloud waste.  Understanding these issues, you will better understand how to create better cloud solutions. You will also be better able to set expectations from those providing cloud solutions and related services.

Top 3 Cloud Computing Challenges

For 2023, SMB respondents identify the top three cloud computing challenges as:

  • Managing Cloud Spend (80%),
  • Security (73%), and
  • Compliance (71%).

These concerns make sense. The spending model for managed cloud services, based on subscriptions or usage, is an operating expense.  Most smaller companies are used to making capital expenditures and paying for service contracts and managed services.  Additionally, many of the IT firms working with small businesses will replicate on-premise networks and servers in a public cloud service. They may lack the expertise and tools to actively manage costs.

Concerns about security and compliance reflect the increasing need and demands of protecting sensitive business and personal information.  We face the same increased regulations and expanding industry standards as larger enterprises. But we do not have the in-house resources or the same access to experts. We place our trust on local or regional IT service firms.

Latest Trends and Developments in Cloud Computing

Undefined Cloud Management

Following closely behind the top 3 cloud challenges, governance (67%) and subscription management (61%) indicate that small businesses are not sure how to best manage their cloud services.  As cloud infrastructure matures, the number of options expand.  To make simple decisions, such as whether to subscribe monthly or make an annual commitment at a lower per unit price, we need to understand the operating cost models.  We need standard operating procedures, such as on/off-boarding and access controls, in place.

Cloud is still new. We need our IT service firms and managed service providers to guide, if not lead, our cloud management efforts. Co-management is a viable strategy, provided it includes policies and procedures as well as products and services.

Cloud Waste

On average, the survey results show that businesses spent 18% more than budgeted on public cloud services last year.  The greatest contributor to the overspend appears to be Cloud Waste.

Cloud waste is spending on cloud services that go unutilized or are under-utilized.  Reducing cloud waste can be as simple as

  • Shutting down unused resources after hours
  • Selecting lower cost regions / data centers
  • Periodically right-sizing systems and resources

Policies that scale resources in real-time based on usage will increase efficiency, but require expertise and planning during the solution design process, monitoring, and refinement over time.

How to Pick a Cloud Computing Provider

Traditional managed service providers, or MSPs, are experts in buying, monitoring, and managing things. They focus on network components, servers, systems software, and end user devices.  To get the most value from our cloud services, we need partners that understand service and cost management.

Managed cloud service providers, or MCSPs, understand how the “as-a-Service” model is different. Security, compliance, and cost management only work when they are built into the requirements, design, and management of your cloud services.

Before picking your cloud provider, ask about their management and co-management models. Understand if they actively work to monitor and manage security, compliance, and costs. Ask them to explain how.

Call To Action

Get a copy of our recent eBook, Cloud Strategies for Small and Midsize Businesses. In this eBook, we: set the stage by looking at how small and midsize businesses acquire and use technology and IT services; explore the challenges we face moving into the cloud; and map out four strategies for enhancing your use and expansion of cloud services.

To discuss how your business can better utilize a broader range of cloud services, please contact us or schedule time with one of our Cloud Advisors at your convenience.

About the Author

Allen Falcon is the co-founder and CEO of Cumulus Global.  Allen co-founded Cumulus Global in 2006 to offer small businesses enterprise-grade email security and compliance using emerging cloud solutions. He has led the company’s growth into a managed cloud service provider with over 1,000 customers throughout North America. Starting his first business at age 12, Allen is a serial entrepreneur. He has launched strategic IT consulting, software, and service companies. An advocate for small and midsize businesses, Allen served on the board of the former Smaller Business Association of New England, local economic development committees, and industry advisory boards.

A Notable Shift in Cyber Attacks

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As we proceed into 2023, we begin receiving reports and analysis of 2022, the year that was.  Now is a time when we gather data and perspectives on the past year. This new information helps guide us to better decisions in the year ahead. With respect to Cyber Attacks, the information is definitely both positive and negative in nature.

Mixed News

As reported recently in CRN, SonicWall reports in their 2023 annual Cyber Threat Report that ransomware attack volume dropped by 21% worldwide last year. In the US, the volume dropped by 48%.  While this is good news, we see some serious caveats in the data.

  • 2021 was the worst year on record for ransomware attacks, with more than 600 million worldwide.
  • Even with the 21% drop, 2022 still had the second largest number of ransomware attacks in history.
  • Ransomware attack volume in 2022 was 50% more than in 2020, and more than 2019 and 2022 combined.
  • SonicWall also reports that the last quarter of 2022 had a spike of attacks with an increase over Q4 in 2021.

What does this mean?  Ransomware attack volumes have dropped, but they are still at historical highs.  It is too soon for us to predict a change that would alter how we protect and respond these attacks.

Shifting Landscape

Related data suggest the cyber attack landscape is shifting. This information suggests that cyber criminals are focusing on other types of attacks. In 2022,

  • Cryptojacking attacks jumped by 43%
  • IoT malware attacks increased by 87%

Similarly, CRN reported that security vendor CrowdStrike noted a 20% increase in data theft and data extortion attacks that did NOT deploy encryption. More attackers are avoiding the protections against ransomware and simply threatening to expose or release sensitive data.

What does this mean? Businesses with solid cyber security and business recovery solutions in place can avoid paying ransoms. Collecting ransoms to decrypt files has become less attractive.  By quietly identify and collecting sensitive information, cyber attackers regain the upper hand.  They can release portions of the data if the victim hesitates to pay.

The Impact on Your Business

While we may see some encouraging signs, your business remains at risk. Our Security CPR model guides decisions on cyber security solutions. The model offers a holistic approach that begins with communication and education, ensures protection and prevention, and includes your ability to restore and recover.

To ensure your business has the resiliency it needs, focus on threats most likely to impact your business and those that will be the most damaging if successful. We have a number of blog posts, webcasts, and whitepapers in our Resource Center.

Call To Action

For a look at your cyber security, complete our Rapid Security Assessment (free through June 2023) for a review of your basic security measures.

Contact us or schedule time with one of our Cloud Advisors to discuss your cyber security protections and/or your broader security needs, priorities, and solutions.

About the Author

Allen Falcon is the co-founder and CEO of Cumulus Global.  Allen co-founded Cumulus Global in 2006 to offer small businesses enterprise-grade email security and compliance using emerging cloud solutions. He has led the company’s growth into a managed cloud service provider with over 1,000 customers throughout North America. Starting his first business at age 12, Allen is a serial entrepreneur. He has launched strategic IT consulting, software, and service companies. An advocate for small and midsize businesses, Allen served on the board of the former Smaller Business Association of New England, local economic development committees, and industry advisory boards.

The Cloud, Shared Responsibility, and You

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The vast majority of small and midsize businesses (SMBs) understand — or have learned the hard way — that the ability to recover lost or damaged data is critical to your IT services and business resiliency.  You need to be able to recover and restore files, databases, servers, and workstations from loss due to disasters, hardware failures, software errors, or human action. In the cloud, it is your shared responsibility to protect your data.

The Cloud

As we move data, services, and servers, we rely on infrastructure and security built into the services.  Google and Microsoft operate industry-leading, sophisticated services designed for security as well as performance, features, and functions.  The capabilities do three things:

  1. Continuity: Ensure the clouds run with little or no disruption
  2. Recovery: Enable the restoration of services without loss of failure do to hardware, network, or other issues
  3. Capability: Provide us with the ability to secure and protect our data based on our usage

Microsoft, Google, and other cloud services do not, however, protect us from how we use their services.

You

Microsoft and Google do not control how we use Microsoft 365 or Google Workspace services.  We, as subscribers, control how we manage and protect our data, including:

  • Who can access the services
  • Which applications can connect and integrate
  • Which other applications and services will share user identities
  • Which users can manage, edit, suggest, or view files and folders
  • Which users can access various services within each of the productivity suites

With these controls comes great responsibility.  You are responsible for how your data is stored and used.  You are responsible if that use causes data loss or damage.

Shared Responsibility

Microsoft and Google  both use a “Shared Responsibility” model for security and data protection. The model defines which aspects of the cloud service security and data protection are your responsibility and which are the responsibility of the service provider.

Microsoft

Microsoft Shared Responsibility ModelMicrosoft discusses Shared Responsibility as a component of its terms of service.  A recent Microsoft Learning article notes the following:

“In an on-premises datacenter, you own the whole stack. As you move to the cloud some responsibilities transfer to Microsoft. The following diagram illustrates the areas of responsibility between you and Microsoft, according to the type of deployment of your stack.”

For Microsoft 365, a “Software as a Service” (SaaS) offering, Microsoft expects you to take responsibility for protecting and recovery of your information and data; devices; accounts and identities; and portions of your identity and directory infrastructure. Microsoft has a detailed white paper covering shared responsibility for Azure services.

Google

Google Shared Responsibility ModelThe Google Workspace Data Protection Guide includes a section dedicated to the Shared Responsibility model. Google states:

“Data protection is not only the responsibility of the business using Google Workspace services; nor is it only that of Google in providing those services. Data protection on the cloud is instead a shared responsibility; a collaboration between the customer and the Cloud service provider (CSP).”

“As a Google Workspace customer, you are responsible for the security of components that you provide or control, such as the content you put in Google Workspace services, and establishing access control for your users.”

As a SaaS offering, Google warns that you are responsible for the access control, security, and protection of any and all content you place in the Google Workspace service. The Google Cloud Platform: Shared Responsibility Matrix provides a detailed overview of shared responsibility for Google Cloud Platform.

Back to You

Understanding your shared responsibility, you can meet your data security and protection obligations.

First and foremost, configure and use the security and data protection features included within your Microsoft 365 or Google Workspace subscription. These services range from multi-factor authentication to secure user identities and access to advanced data loss prevention services in enterprise level subscriptions.

Your next step is to add additional services to cover aspects of data protection not provided with your Microsoft 365 or Google Workspace subscriptions.  These services may include:

  • Advanced threat protection for inbound email
  • Backup/recovery of all user content in Google Workspace (including shared drives) and Microsoft 365 (including Teams)
  • Archive/eDiscovery services to meet internal data policy, industry guidelines, or regulatory requirements
  • Backup/recovery for data located on end user devices and on-premise or hosted servers
  • Continuity services for mission-critical servers and end user device
  • Message-level and file-level encryption for compliance with industry or regulatory requirements

Your business may or may not need all of the services listed.  Which services you deploy should be part of a larger assessment of your cyber security and data protection needs.

Call To Action

Contact us or schedule time with one of our Cloud Advisors to discuss how you are meeting your shared responsibility and/or your broader security needs, priorities, and solutions.

For a broader look at your cyber security, complete our Rapid Security Assessment (free through June 2023) for a review of your basic security measures.

About the Author

Chris CaldwellChristopher Caldwell is the COO and a co-founder of Cumulus Global.  Chris is a successful Information Services executive with 40 years experience in information services operations, application development, management, and leadership. His expertise includes corporate information technology and service management; program and project management; strategic and project-specific business requirements analysis; system requirements analysis and specification; system, application, and database design; software engineering and development, data center management, network and systems administration, network and system security, and end-user technical support.

Data Breaches are Still a Thing

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As we speak with small and midsize business executives, we sometimes hear that cyber attacks and the risk of data breaches are no longer seen as a threat serious enough to warrant attention and spending.  We understand this hesitancy. Even with the level of media visibility, the prevalence of security solutions and a weariness of the constant focus on security can lead to the conclusion that we can let our guard down.

The reality, however, is that the rate of cyber attacks jumped about 600% in 2020.  More businesses are getting attacked and more attacks are successful.

A List of Breaches

For perspective, in the last 4 weeks, the cyber security experts at ID Agent have published data on these major breaches. Many are likely to be familiar to you or represent a major government entity.

  • Metropolitan Police Department of the District of Columbia
  • Pennsylvania Department of Health
  • The Resort Municipality of Whistler
  • CNA Financial
  • OfficeDepot
  • Personal Touch Holding Corp
  • Facebook
  • Hobby Lobby
  • Illinois Office of the Attorney General
  • Wyoming Department of Health
  • Eversource Energy
  • California State Controller
  • LinkedIn
  • The New York Foundling
  • University of Maryland Baltimore
  • CareFirst BlueCross BlueShield Community Health Plan District of Columbia (CHPDC)

The Case for Concern

The list, above, is only a sample and only represents larger breaches.  Cyber attacks hit small and midsize businesses on a daily basis. Even so, we often view protection and recovery services as insurance.  We do not want to pay for coverage; we hope we never need to use it; and we do not see the value until we are a victim.

A Model for Success

Cyber security differs from insurance. We can reduce the risk of successful attacks with foresight, planning, and protections. Our CPR Cyber Security Model balances awareness, prevention, and response.

Communicate and Educate

Involve everybody in the solution. Communicate the risks and your commitment to protecting the business and your employees. Educate your team on the risks, how to spot and report attacks, and how their behavior can prevent or help an attack.

Protect and Prevent

Implement multi-layer, multi-vector protections that focuses on your people (identities), data, applications, and systems. Use “next gen” solutions that analyze behaviors and that can learn as risks evolve.

Respond and Recovery

No defense is perfect. Have services in solutions in place that let you recover and return to operations within a time frame that protects the health of your business. More than getting data and systems back on line, we recommend that you put in place the forensics, legal, public relations, and customer service resources you will need in a cyber attack emergency.

Want to learn more?  Want to assess your cyber security protections and risks? We can help.  Email us or complete our contact form to schedule a complimentary meeting with one of our Cloud Advisors.

 

COVID-19 Survey: Revenue Losses and Diminishing Cash Reserves

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In a national survey of more than 2400 businesses conducted and published by American City Business Journals finds that small and midsize businesses are seeing severe impacts from the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Impacts: Profits, Revenue, Cash, and Survivability

About 69% of respondents have seen revenue decline since the major onset of COVID-19 in March 2020.  Of those seeing revenue decline, close to half see revenue falling by 50% or more year over year.

Additionally, 47% indicate that they have not been profitable and nearly one third report being cash flow negative over the first six months of the pandemic. About 70% of those losing money are losing more than $10,000 per month and 64% will run out of funds within the five months.

About 40% of respondents raised cash through loans or equity investments since March 1, with 91% of these businesses receiving loans from a federal stimulus program, such as the Paycheck Protection Program. These funds were predominantly used to cover payroll and operating expenses as opposed to funding investment or growth.

Change in Focus

With the stark financial impacts, most smaller businesses are changing their focus. Rather than looking forward one to three years, most SMBs are focuses on the current and next quarter. The shift from strategic to tactical is a direct response to the many unknowns of the pandemic, the near-term economy, business sector and market impacts, and government recovery and stimulus plans.

The near-term focus makes sense as we look to minimize costs, conserve cash, and ensure profits and our sustainability.

Where IT Services Can Help

Leveraging the right IT services can help you prepare and react to changes as you navigate the on-going unknowns.  Here are 5 ideas to consider.

Audit your IT services for redundant services.
  • Most businesses find they are paying for multiple services with redundant or overlapping capabilities.
  • In many instances, we see businesses paying for third party services that are available for no additional cost in their productivity suites.
  • Eliminating duplication will require some change of habits, but can dramatically reduce on-going IT costs.
Audit your communication tools.
  • Are you paying for, and not using your available communication tools?
  • Chat, video, and collaboration tools are standard in Microsoft 365 and G Suite, and can reduce or eliminate the need for expensive voice, teleconference, video conference, and online meeting solutions.
  • A modest investment in training/education can help minimize communication costs.
Replace file servers with file services.
  • Most businesses using Microsoft 365 or G Suite are storing files in these systems; these same businesses still run on-premise or hosted file servers.
  • OneDrive, SharePoint, My Drive, and Shared Drives make it easy to save, share, and manage files.  The OneDrive and Drive File Stream clients connect your end user applications to your cloud file services.
  • Moving files from servers to cloud services eliminates the need for physical services, monthly MSP monitoring fees, backup/recovery costs, anti-virus costs, and more.
  • If your staff need to access your on-premise services remotely, you may also be able to reduce or eliminate expenses related to VPN and other remote access services.
  • While you will still want and need to protect cloud-resident files, your cost to store, share, and manage files will be lower.
Move applications and systems from on-premise to cloud
  • You can lower you monthly operating costs and give you the ability to scale your resources and costs up and down as needed on a monthly basis.
  • Make it easier to reduce your physical footprint for potential savings on rent and utilities.
  • Scale your services up and down as needed to avoid unnecessary costs and capital expenditures.
Execute a service and data governance strategy
  • Scale services up and down as needed to manage costs
  • Ensure data is secure, managed, and protected
  • Leverage data archiving services to minimize active account costs

To explore your options and best next moves, contact us for a complimentary Cloud Advisor session.

 

“Deja Vu?” or “Have We Learned Our Lesson?”

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Hurricane Matthew as of 2pm on Oct 4th

Hurricane Matthew as of 2pm on Oct 4th

As of this blog post, Hurricane Matthew is churning through the western Caribbean with a projected path eerily similar to Superstorm Sandy in 2012. In its wake, Sandy left a path of destruction up the East Coast and deep into New England with many families and businesses still in the process of rebuilding. Small and mid-size businesses (SMBs) up and down the eastern seacoast were crippled by flooding, loss of infrastructure, and extended Internet and power outages; many were unable to recover.

Could this be a devastating Deja Vu, or did we learn our lesson?

Have you ensured that your information services and data will survive the next storm? Do you know how quickly your business can recover if (more like when) the next storm hits?

Path of Superstorm Sandy in 2012

Path of Hurricane Sandy in 2012

These questions feel more pressing as our next potential big storm churns towards Florida.

Good. Better. Best.

Your “Good” strategy is Backup. Ensure that you back up all of your critical data. Backups should be off site to a service that lets you restore to new systems quickly and efficiently.

Your “Better” strategy is Recovery. In addition to backups, ensure you have the ability to recovery quickly to new systems or to a temporary data center. When your  Return to Operations (RTO) time lets you continue running your business without significant impact to you or your customers, your recovery plan is sound.

Your “Best” strategy is Resilience. Your business is resilient when you can continue running your business with minimal disruption and with little or no inconvenience to your customers, regardless of the weather outside. By placing key applications and services in the cloud, your business can continue to run whether or not your office is open. With Internet access and a browser, your team can connect and work. And while you still may have some aspects of your IT running on premise, a solid cloud strategy keeps critical systems available and operating.

Resiliency Roadmap

For most SMBs, you should consider having the following services hosted or in the cloud. Depending on your applications and needs, you can use Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) solutions or host your applications on cloud/hosted servers with virtual/remote desktops.

  • Communications
    • Email / Calendar / Contacts
    • Telephony — cloud/hosted Voice over IP (VoIP)
    • Messaging / Voice & Video Conferencing
  • Collaboration
    • File Storage & Sharing
    • Productivity Tools (document, spreadsheet, presentation editors)
  • Key Business Apps
    • Customer Relationship Management (CRM)
    • Account / Finance
    • Service / Support
    • Others …

Creating a Resilient business requires strategic thinking, advanced planning, and solid execution. This is especially true when you have integrated applications and systems that you cannot change in isolation. At a high level, the roadmap is:

  1. Identify the applications and services
  2. Prioritize all applications and services based on the impact in the event of a service outage. Look outward and inward, remembering to consider customer impact.
  3. Starting with your highest priority applications and systems, evaluate if your level or protection: Backup, Recovery, or Resilient protection.
  4. Identify and implement solutions that take you from Backup to Recovery, from Recovery to Resilience, or from Backup all the way to Resilience.
  5. Repeat as you move through your prioritized list.

While you may not have time to make your business Resilient before Hurricane Matthew works its way up the coast, you have options to improve your backups and your ability to recover that can be implemented within hours rather than days and weeks. Think about the value of keeping your business running and ensuring its survival. Act now.

Contact us immediately if you want assistance with your backup, recovery, or resiliency services.

 

Cloud Resiliency: Overview, Benefits & Steps for Implementation

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business resilienceWhat is Resiliency in Cloud Computing?

In today’s rapidly evolving digital landscape, where businesses increasingly rely on cloud computing for their critical operations, the need to ensure uninterrupted services and data availability has become paramount. This is where “Cloud Resiliency” steps in as a fundamental aspect of modern IT strategy.

Cloud resiliency refers to the ability of a cloud-based system or infrastructure to withstand and recover from unexpected disruptions, whether they arise from hardware failures, software glitches, cyberattacks, natural disasters, or any other unforeseen events. It involves designing and implementing a robust framework that can promptly detect issues, gracefully handle failures, and swiftly restore normal operations without significant downtime.

The unexpected will happen. It is inevitable. Sometimes the unexpected is a good thing. In technology, the unexpected is usually bad.  It may be small … or big … or catastrophic.

Part of our role as IT professionals is to expect and prepare for the unexpected. We backup data so that we can restore files that are accidentally deleted, overwritten, or damaged.  We backup systems so that we can recover them in case of hardware or software failures. Many business designs and implement disaster recovery plans. These plans provide the means for companies to recover from larger incidents, ranging from burst pipes and building fires to blizzards and hurricanes.

In recent years, the focus has been on “Business Continuity” planning. Business continuity intends to prevent disruption to operations, even in the face of larger incidents or disasters. While great in concept, most small and mid-size enterprises cannot afford to fully duplicate systems in redundant data centers and provide alternate work sites for employees.

Cloud Resiliency in Business

Business Resiliency is based on the objective of enabling a business to continue (or rapidly resume) operations with some accommodations.  In other words, you may not be running 100%, but you will be running soon enough and well enough, given the situation. Resiliency is about bending without breaking.

Consider Hurricane Sandy which devastated parts of the US Eastern Seaboard.  Many businesses were physically destroyed by the flooding. Many others were shut down by the indirect effects of the flooding as some areas along the coast lost critical infrastructure — including water and sewer. Businesses left physically intact but without power for days considered themselves lucky as some areas waited months for reconstruction.

Consider the ice storms and blizzards throughout the Northeast US in recent years.  For many businesses, the only disruption was loss of power.  And while in many of the storms, outages where generally localized, some businesses went without power for as long as three weeks.

The same holds true for businesses in “tornado alley” in the Midwest. A tornado may leave your business unscathed, but it may take days or weeks for power and water to be restored.

In each of these scenarios, backup/restore/recovery is not enough to get the business back up and running. And, again, most small and mid-size businesses cannot afford to maintain disaster recovery systems and sites.

Benefits of Cloud Resiliency

Cloud resiliency offers a wide range of benefits to businesses and organizations that rely on managed cloud-based services and infrastructures. These advantages contribute to the overall stability, availability, and security of digital assets, ensuring uninterrupted operations and safeguarding against potential disruptions. Here are some key benefits of cloud resiliency:

  1. High Availability: Cloud resiliency ensures that critical applications and services remain available even in the face of hardware failures, software glitches, or other unforeseen events. Redundancy and failover mechanisms enable seamless transitions to backup systems, minimizing downtime and maintaining continuous access for users.
  2. Disaster Recovery: Resilient cloud architectures provide robust disaster recovery capabilities. Regular data backups, real-time data replication, and well-defined recovery processes allow businesses to recover quickly from data loss, cyberattacks, or natural disasters, minimizing potential data and revenue loss.
  3. Reduced Downtime: With cloud resiliency in place, businesses experience reduced downtime during system failures or maintenance activities. Quick detection and automatic recovery mechanisms help prevent prolonged service interruptions, enhancing productivity and customer satisfaction.
  4. Business Continuity: Cloud resiliency ensures business continuity by allowing organizations to maintain essential operations even during disruptive events. Critical business functions can continue operating, meeting customer commitments and minimizing financial losses.
  5. Cost Efficiency: While implementing cloud resiliency may involve upfront investments, it ultimately proves cost-effective in the long run. The ability to prevent extended downtime or data loss reduces potential revenue losses and protects a company’s reputation.
  6. Scalability: Resilient cloud infrastructures are designed to scale dynamically to meet changing demands. As businesses grow or experience fluctuating workloads, the cloud resiliency framework can seamlessly adapt, ensuring optimal performance and resource utilization.
  7. Enhanced Security: Cloud resiliency often goes hand-in-hand with robust security measures. Proactive identification and mitigation of vulnerabilities help protect against cyber threats and unauthorized access, safeguarding sensitive data and intellectual property.
  8. Improved Customer Trust: Reliability and continuous availability of services build trust with customers and partners. Knowing that their data and operations are in safe hands, clients are more likely to choose a resilient cloud service provider, giving businesses a competitive advantage.
  9. Regulatory Compliance: Resilient cloud architectures often adhere to industry-specific regulations and compliance requirements. Meeting these standards is critical for businesses operating in regulated sectors, ensuring legal adherence and avoiding potential penalties.
  10. Faster Recovery Times: In the event of a disruption or disaster, cloud resiliency enables faster recovery times compared to traditional on-premises solutions. Automated recovery processes and failover capabilities reduce the time required to restore services and operations.
  11. Geographical Redundancy: Resilient cloud infrastructures can be distributed across multiple data centers in different geographic locations. This geographical redundancy further enhances data protection and disaster recovery capabilities, minimizing the impact of regional outages or natural disasters.

Cloud Resiliency Requirements

Achieving cloud resiliency involves careful planning, robust architecture design, and the implementation of various measures to ensure the system can withstand and recover from unexpected disruptions.

Most businesses can afford to move IT systems into cloud computing and hosted solutions.  And in doing so, businesses can affordably build resiliency.

With all of these disasters, you did not have to travel too far inland to be out of the damage zone.  Businesses with on-premise equipment had to purchase and wait for delivery of replacements, rebuild their systems, and (hopefully) recover their data from their off-site backups. Certainly doable, but costly and time consuming.  It can take 2 to 4 days just to get the equipment in place and ready to restore.

Businesses in the cloud faced a different scenario and outcome. Moving to an area with power and Internet, businesses running in the cloud were up and running in hours (some in minutes) and some were never “down” at all.

Take the Next Step Today to Implement Resilience in Your Cloud Computing Strategy

To discuss how cloud computing can improve the resiliency of your business, contact us for a no-obligation conversation or click here to learn about our RestartIT solutions.