Navigating the future: Cloud migration journeys and data security 

For years, businesses have been chasing innovation with cloud platforms, moving beyond the limitations of legacy technology for greater speed and agility, and sharpening their competitive edge. However, all businesses often face challenges that complicate cloud migration, driving up costs and timelines while exposing the business to data security risks. Ultimately, these challenges block businesses from experiencing the true benefits of cloud integration, and in some cases, lead to significant breaches and regulatory fines.  

The speed of cloud migration is most commonly hindered by data security concerns, budget overruns, fragmented implementations, and operational friction. These challenges -- affecting the three key stakeholders within the cloud migration strategy of Data and Analytics Leaders, Security Leaders, and IT Leaders -- often cause projects to run well beyond their planned timelines and budgets. In many cases, these migrations fail to deliver value because data utilization is restricted by inadequate security, and extended timelines erode the business’s first-mover advantage. 

To overcome security challenges and protect the cloud databases, teams often adopt a DIY security approach. However, this is not as practical or scalable a solution as it seems. Cloud projects have a reputation for spiraling in scope, much like their ever-expanding namesake -- often stretching far beyond the original vision teams had in mind. As the migration project rapidly increases in scale, teams are hampered by the number of security solutions required and soon realize they are investing time and resources into building custom cloud security solutions rather than moving forward with the cloud migration itself. 

To mitigate these issues, data security must be the foundation of every cloud migration project. Security cannot be treated as an afterthought or applied only to certain parts of a migration: instead, it must be unified and consistent across the entire organization. When businesses prioritize security from the outset, they eliminate risk and operational friction, creating a secure and agile pathway to a competitive advantage in the cloud. Beginning a cloud migration journey with the foundation of data security also enables teams to be more considered and methodical in their approach; adopting the mindset of measure twice, cut once. Further, data security allows businesses to move data seamlessly across platforms, leverage any cloud, and develop cloud-native applications, all while maintaining speed, agility, and confidence. 

Navigating safety obstacles 

One of the major obstacles that businesses face is the increasing complexity of regulatory environments. Most notably, with DORA coming into effect in January 2025, businesses operating in the EU must meet new standards for technological risk management. This regulation requires businesses to demonstrate their ability to prevent, manage, and recover from cyberattacks and other operational disruptions. Failure to comply will potentially lead to considerable fines and reputational damage. Considering this, businesses must not assume that basic cloud provider security tools will be sufficient to effectively secure their sensitive data and meet the demands of regulatory scrutiny. Tools like encryption, identity and access management (IAM), and monitoring/logging provide a foundation, but they are not comprehensive solutions. Unfortunately, over-reliance on these tools can lead to compliance gaps and increased vulnerability. 

To meet the requirements of DORA and future regulations, business leaders must adopt a proactive and reflexive approach to cybersecurity. Strong cyber hygiene practices must be integrated throughout the business, ensuring consistency in how data is handled, protected, and accessed. It is important to note at this juncture that enhanced data security isn’t purely focused on compliance. Modern IT researchers and business analysts have been studying what differentiates the most innovative companies for decades and have identified two key principles that help businesses achieve this: Unified Control and Federated Protection. Unified Control establishes a centralized policy governing all data security measures, ensuring consistency and compliance across all platforms. Federated Protection implements these centralized policies across decentralized environments, allowing for flexibility while maintaining robust security. 

This clearly illustrates that comprehensive data security and governance allows businesses to grow and innovate with confidence: allowing them to take calculated risks with data security and compliance already accounted for. By using unified control and federated protection, teams avoid reinventing cybersecurity policies for every cloud migration project and instead focus their attention on fast, efficient project delivery. 

The data security (r)evolution 

Advancements in data security technologies are reshaping the cloud landscape, enabling faster and more secure migrations. Privacy Enhancing Technologies (PETs) like dynamic data masking (DDM), tokenization, and format-preserving encryption help businesses anonymize sensitive data, reducing breach risks while keeping cloud adoption fast and flexible. However, as businesses will inevitably adopt multi-cloud strategies to support their processes, they will require interoperable security platforms that can seamlessly integrate across multiple cloud environments. Such platforms will not only enable faster, more secure migration processes but also allow businesses to achieve a rapid return on investment (ROI) that would otherwise be stunted by increasingly complex challenges. Ultimately, those that stay ahead of regulatory trends, while leveraging cutting-edge data security platforms, will be best positioned to thrive in the rapidly evolving digital landscape. 

Paul Hossack is Solutions Engineer at data protection platform provider Protegrity . For data and security leaders, who are curious about how data security can benefit their organization and cloud projects, Protegrity is hosting a roundtable event titled ‘The Next Frontier: How Data Security Will Shape the Future of Cloud Adoption’. The session will tackle data security challenges faced during cloud migration, navigating regulatory environments whilst maximizing value, and what data security trends businesses should anticipate for staying ahead. For more details and to register your place at The Ortus Club, London on the 7th of November, 18:30 GMT, please visit The Ortus Club.