How Data Security is evolving- Cloud Services

Cloud services have grown and developed to become an essential part of the digital world. In recent years, we have helped many businesses move away from storing hard physical data on their premises or elsewhere, and instead look for the optimum location to store their most precious asset – the Cloud. According to Forbes, around 60% of corporate data is now stored in the Cloud, compared to just 30% in 2015.

We spoke with Iain Davidson, Head of Enterprise Products, about how Cloud is developing and why now is the time to expand Sure Business’ Cloud offering.

How is Sure Business keeping up to date with global developments in Cloud storage?

'There is so much going on, and it’s changing daily. Pretty much everyone had their own servers 10 years ago and Cloud was a bit more niche – used for essential backups and occasionally for smaller businesses with someone with enough tech know-how to go all in on nascent Cloud systems. Now, Cloud is everywhere and the biggest tech players, like Google and Microsoft Azure, are in the game, meaning there is much bigger scope for data storage.

The biggest shift for Sure Business is moving towards multi-Cloud environments and increasing our product offering from three to five. Multi-Cloud environments generally offer customers more flexibility with accessing their data and are cheaper than hybrid models.'

What variations of Cloud are on offer at Sure Business?

'We’re now offering two versions of Sure vCloud – a system that uses virtual machines to operate; Private vCloud – which is built and managed for a specific customer, and Public vCloud - which is a segregated service shared by multiple customers. The former allows an organisation to have more influence over the type of storage and its parameters, and the latter offers an affordable option for organisations that don’t need highly bespoke storage.

We also offer Azure HCI - an extension of local Azure services primarily designed for a single customer - and Azure Stack Hub, a multi-tenanted option using on-island shared infrastructure.

We understand that every organisation is different, with very different needs, so customers can also choose our colocation package; a bespoke offering which involves your business leasing a space in a third-party data centre.'

Is data security improving with developments in Cloud?

'The threat of deletion and unauthorised amendments should always be at the forefront of people’s minds when considering Cloud storage, and Sure Business has a wide range of security options available on our Cloud products to provide peace of mind.

Clients with data that doesn’t relate to customers often choose the less costly option of storing data in a public Cloud. Whereas other customers may seek a highly secure option, which they can restrict physical access to and maintain a log of who has access to it and when.

Our private Cloud offers maximum security and is unique as it is deployed from our on-island data centre. This gives customers the peace of mind that even if a complete shutdown was to occur across the Isle of Man, Jersey or Guernsey, your business could continue to run, with your data kept secure. This also allows customers to control every aspect of their storage - including admin, reporting and backup and recovery – and could be the perfect option for traditional enterprise businesses that can’t tolerate any downtime.

Data is now more secure than ever, but the threats are constantly increasing and there is no doubt that security provision in the Cloud will become increasingly enhanced in the years to come, however, there is no room for complacency.'