Using the cloud as a storage medium has become commonplace in today’s
marketplace, due to the need for 24/7 access and backup. This is true
for the general consumer as well as the enterprise markets, with
specific needs for both. But what may be good practice for a consumer
may not be at the same level needed for a business, even though the
basic principles behind what to look for tend to stay the same.
Security
Security
is extremely important for the consumer, though not in the same ways a
business might see it. The security level necessary for the consumer
comes more from wanting a sense of privacy. Users do not want their
private photos or home videos leaked across the Internet. But because
cloud storage will hold everything from photos and videos to important
backups of documents, there is still a need for a high level of
security.
A business, however, has information that might range from internal memos and documents to the information its clients have entrusted to them. Because businesses store information other than their own, higher levels of scrutiny and security are required.
The first way to make sure data is secure
when using an outside source is to know who has access to the
information and when. Look for a service that sends a notification to
the person who is managing the data when a login is attempted from an
unrecognized location or computer.
In this day and age of rampant
cyber crime, it is important to follow best practices for passwords and
other login information. Beyond using less obvious passwords like names
and other personal information, changing passwords on a regular basis
is an important habit to get into. To keep information as secure as
possible, businesses should use two-factor authentication whenever possible.
Access and Recovery
The
main advantage for cloud-based storage is the ability to pull that
information anywhere at anytime. This is great for relatively small
amounts of data since it allows access to files that may have been
forgotten or are still being worked on. These sorts of features also
allow for collaborative work between the business and client or for
internal work with remote workers.
In the case of data loss on
the client side, it is extremely important to know the practices of data
recovery, so the data loss has minimal impact on the day-to-day life of
the business. In the best case scenario, the data loss is relatively
small and only requires a bit of time to download and reintegrate the
data into the larger system. But in the case of a catastrophic loss due
to theft, fire or another natural disaster, a solution that can quickly
ship a hard drive, thumb drive or mass storage device is a service that
should be seriously considered. Depending on the level of loss,
downloading tens or hundreds of gigabytes would not be the quickest or
most efficient way to recover.
Like any tool, there are
advantages and disadvantages to using a cloud-based system. The security
offered by the cloud service is the difference between peace of mind
and constant worrying about the integrity of the business' data. Knowing
who has access to the business' data at any given time and being able
to get large amounts of data quickly in case of an incident are the most
important factors to think about for long-term success.