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Take a close look at the cloud

By Tracy Burrows, ITWeb contributor.
Johannesburg, 24 Oct 2012

ITWeb Business Continuity 2012

At the inaugural ITWeb Business Continuity Conference, delegates will learn how to assess risk, prepare for likely eventualities, implement a business continuity plan and ensure timeous recovery. Key experts will discuss solutions to building continuity into every layer of your business. This will enable your organisation to weather any challenges it faces, and to have a competitive advantage as a result of a robust risk management capability. For more information and to reserve your seat, Click here.

Cloud computing can offer numerous benefits for organisational resilience, but companies may fail to look carefully at the possible pitfalls.

This is according to Michael Davies, MD of ContinuitySA, who says companies are looking to the cloud in growing numbers; however, not all of them are fully examining the possible risks.

"They may rush into it, based on the great benefits and hype of the cloud, but they may also fail to consider possible scenarios where it can go wrong, in their haste," he says.

A major factor is the security aspect, says Davies. "Any organisation should be aware of the potential security risks. In addressing this, companies need to consider whether the public or a private cloud is best suited to their needs.

"In a private cloud, the enterprise has more control over the data. In a public cloud, you have more reliance on a third party. So, then you have to ask - does your cloud service provider have a business continuity plan?"

Davies says that, in line with this, when companies entrust their data to a third party, they need to consider what their potential exit plans are. "If there are issues, like the service provider goes out of business, companies need to know how easily they can get out unscathed from the partnership," he says.

Another challenge in the cloud arena, says Davies, is a lack of standards and regulation. As a relatively immature market, cloud computing may have organisations that promote good practice, but there is little in the way of global regulating bodies and standards authorities. While some countries have certain local regulations in place for the management of data, others do not.

"Standards and regulation would help address issues such as security and integration of IT systems into the cloud," Davies says. "As the market matures, regulation will come. Currently, the problem rests with the organisation implementing the cloud service."

However, Davies feels the potential pitfalls can be avoided by carefully assessing the cloud service provider and the agreements in place. "The service provider needs to demonstrate ability, and might even be asked to outline their own business continuity plans. Risk can also be mitigated with a comprehensive service level agreement."

Davies notes that the cloud can deliver huge benefits for operational resilience. For one thing, it enables the mobile workforce, which in itself contributes to operational resilience. "With a fully mobile workforce, people can continue to work from any remote location in the event of a disruption, such as a disaster or strike," Davies says.

Other benefits of cloud computing, such as rapid implementation and recovery of systems, are well known. "In the cloud, you should be able to continue your business from anywhere, dependent on your underlying IT infrastructure," he says.

Davies will address the upcoming ITWeb Business Continuity 2012 conference, at The Forum in Bryanston, on 13 November. For more information about this event, click here.

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