Occasionally, I run into a business owner who’s afraid of the cloud. They don’t have nephophobia–they just like to keep their data on-site. Their argument often goes something like this:
“I like to know where it’s at.”
“The cloud has breaches all the time!”
“What if my data gets deleted?”
Or, my personal favorite:
“”I don’t want the Chinese to hack into my system.”
There are various levels of validity to these concerns. They often come up during well-meaning security presentations oscillating somewhere between “prudent” and “FUD” (good old “fear, uncertainty, and doubt”!).
Often overlooked, however, is the fact that the risk of keeping your data on-prem is likely greater than your risk of it suffering a cloud-based disaster.
When it comes to security, maintaining your own IT infrastructure is a big risk factor. Security firm Imperva concluded “46 % of On-Prem Databases Contain Vulnerabilities”. MyTechDecisions is reporting recent vulnerabilities in on-prem systems have highlighted the security advantages of the cloud. In both cases, a big part of the problem is insufficiently patched resources at individual companies. Many organizations are simply unable or unwilling to pay for the IT security expertise and labor required to keep everything fully patched. These vulnerabilities are an attractive target for bad actors.
In addition to the risks inherent to on-prem solutions, the cloud providers are incentivized to continuously improve their services. In a round-table discussion published by the Albany Business review, Lauren Groff discusseshow a cloud subscription model gives vendors a higher ROI for enhancements than the legacy model used for many on-prem products.
While human nature tempts us to “keep our data where we can see it”, the realities of the market and scarce resources tell a different story. Move your data to the cloud, so you can sleep better at night!
