New research provides organizations with a roadmap for cloud security
Organizations often rush into cloud deployments without fully appreciating all of the risks that they can present.
A new report from cybersecurity advisory and assessment services firm Coalfire identifies key considerations, common pitfalls, and practical advice for professionals who have responsibility for enterprise cloud strategy, planning, adoption, and operations.
"Many organizations rush into digital transformation without aligning on strategic outcomes or taking the proper steps to plan," says Gregg Martin, VP, solutions engineering at Coalfire. "Using cloud as a strategic enabler of digital transformation and applying a roadmap for creating a secure cloud in the enterprise means avoiding blind spots and unnecessary missteps."
Cost is seen as a critical factor in cloud migration planning with many organizations having it as an expected business outcome, yet only 36 percent of survey respondents indicate that they made cost savings.
Among other findings, 28 percent plan to augment existing teams with the outside expertise necessary when making deployments. Despite the large blind spots created by not conducting a cloud readiness assessment, fewer than 50 percent of respondents plan to do so. Also troubling is the fact that fewer than 40 percent intend to appoint a management steering committee to ensure alignment from beginning to end, a proven best practice.
The report provides a planning guide based on research and insights from participating members of Coalfire's Cloud Advisory Board, data results from actual cloud deployments, and lessons learned from cybersecurity professionals about their own digital transformation journeys. It's designed to support security, privacy, and technical teams with integrating their cloud migration strategy across the enterprise by factoring in business and IT goals and the KPIs that will be leveraged to measure those achievements. Teams can use the report for strategy and implementation before, during, and post-deployment to move their cloud initiatives from concept to reality while optimizing security over time.
The full report is available from the Coalfire site.
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