Moving your data and systems into the cloud holds many advantages, but one that stands out for firms of all shapes and sizes is the comparative ease of managing data compliance and security compared with on-premise systems.

From monitoring compliance and security in real time to giving secure access to remote workers, the cloud offers numerous features that can be applied to a variety of different types of business.

Compliance is a vital part of any company’s structure. They will either be required to hold certain standing within a regulatory body to offer their products and services, for instance anything that involves finance products. Or in the case of quality management a company left without their relevant ISO accreditation can be left unable to trade with potential customers and suppliers.

Let’s break down some of the compliance and security benefits offered by the cloud and how companies can embrace them.

Data Responsibility

Companies with on-premises data systems are often hesitant to hand over complete control of their data to a third party. They’re concerned that company and customer data could be compromised, or that they won’t be compliant with GDPR. Specifically under GDPR the entity that has gathered data from a person must take necessary steps to secure that information. Included In this is the requirement to be able to justify why you have nominated a specific provider and how it fits into your own quality management system.

However, they risk nothing by migrating their servers to the cloud. Doing so doesn’t mean they’re handing off data responsibility. It simply means that the nominated server provider is responsible for the security for the overall infrastructure.

That’s why so many companies trust Azure as their preferred cloud platform. Microsoft spends huge amounts of money – over $1 billion per year– to ensure security is up to date; which is one of the main reasons they remain the most popular cloud provider.

Layered Compliance

Many regulatory bodies within the financial services industry – such as PCI DSS (Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard) which monitors how businesses handle customer card data or quality management systems within the ISO frameworks – assess compliance on an annual basis. These bodies conduct process audits and are tasked with identifying where compliance isn’t being met before making recommendations on how to improve or fix these issues.

However, with a cloud-based set of tools – such as Microsoft 365’s Secure Score – companies can detect any gaps or errors in real-time. Not only can it be used by compliance officers and data managers to evidence their compliance during an internal audit, it can also be used as a benchmarking tool to show how close to a certain level of compliance they are. This is particularly helpful for companies looking to attain things like ISO accreditation as it gives them a clear path and a timeline for achievement.

Standing Out From The Crowd

In a similar way, SMEs looking to achieve an ISO accreditation (such as ISO/IEC 27000:2018 which covers Information Technology and Security Techniques) to follow compliance standards offered by Azure – such as the blueprints the platform offers which can be used as the basis of the data environment from the very beginning of migration.

Azure’s Security Centre also allows users to plug in any third-party hardware and software so companies can get a complete overview of their compliance and risk profile.

This level of integration means that the system is appropriate for businesses all shapes and sizes – regardless of their specific requirements.

Remote Working and Security

Because of Covid-19 many of us now find ourselves working from home. This presents additional regulatory challenges – such as FCA (Financial Conduct Authority) security compliance.

While the way in which employees will currently have access to data is unlikely to be uniform from a hardware perspective, by hosting data and systems in the cloud, businesses can manage security in real-time, to mitigate the risk of data breaches or breaks in compliance.

Azure’s Security Centre has 90 built-in security compliance templates that businesses can work with and apply to their data: on-demand.

When migrating to the cloud, data compliance and responsibility can be a challenge – whether you’re operating a large business responsible for a wealth of data, or an SME trying to navigate the complexities of compliance and accreditation.

However, cloud platforms like Azure makes this process a lot easier – both by setting the standards required and helping companies achieve their targets.

For more information on how ActionPoint can kickstart your move to the cloud click here.

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