The Cloud Hosting What You Need to Know
Moving to the cloud comes with lots of benefits, but the cloud isn’t infallible. All too often, companies making the cloud move also make some serious mistakes. These mistakes often cost companies money, time, and (the worst) lost data. Here’s what you need to do before, during, and after you move to the cloud.
A Data Loss Prevention Plan
What’s the best way to keep data from being shared or lost without your knowledge? A data loss prevention plan.
- Educate your employees on what can (and can’t) be shared in the cloud.
- Find out if some files that your company handles are truly yours to move.
- Explain to your employees that some data just shouldn't be moved or shared – no matter how insignificant it may seem.
- Let everyone in on the plan that you have in place in case sensitive data is mistakenly shared.
As you can see, the majority of your data loss prevention plan is based on information that you relate to your team. Why? Because 97% of the time, lost or leaked data comes from a team member. You have to have all of your cards in a row if you plan to do anything in the cloud.
Clearly Look at the Future
Oddly enough, lots of companies plan for expansion when setting up dedicated hosting plans. When it comes to cloud hosting, though, these same company heads don’t bother thinking about cloud hosting expansion. Take a look well into the future of your company. Think about whether or not you will need more cloud hosting space, and whether or not your current cloud hosting provider can accommodate this need.
It’s also a really excellent idea to have a plan in place in case you have to move cloud hosting providers. Surprisingly, switching cloud hosts isn't as simple as you might think. So, make sure to take a good look at future hosting needs, and always try to plan accordingly.
Less Obvious Cloud Hosting
I'm willing to bet that most of your team doesn’t give a service like Dropbox a second thought. Dropping a file into a cloud folder seems to be a very simple way to share anything (and it is). The only problem with a service like Dropbox is that it’s not as secure as you may think. That’s why cloud companies that offer Dropbox-like services cater directly to companies that are compliance-based. Making sure your data is truly secure can mean not using a service like Dropbox and finding something comparable instead.
Plan for Outages
But, the cloud doesn't have any outages, right? Not so fast. Just take a look at the major cloud companies that have experienced an outage or two in the past year. When a cloud outage happens, companies can lose tons of money. What’s the best solution? Have a backup plan. What will you do if the cloud goes down? That brings me to my final point.
Back Up Your Data
Sure, everything may be stored in the cloud, but that really doesn’t mean you can afford not to back up your information. Data that is stored in the cloud can be lost, and lost data will mean that you don’t have what you need anywhere else. Plus, cloud companies can simply fold, and this could mean a complete loss of information for you. What then? Make sure that you have a hard copy of everything that you’re putting in the cloud. This way, you can grab your backed up data when the cloud goes down and you need to access something – or, worse, when your clients need data that can’t be found in a down cloud. See the importance of a backup plan?
Solution: Careful Planning
The way around all potential cloud failures is to make sure to plan ahead, plan carefully, and simply have a solid plan. It’s really just not enough to move to the cloud and hope for the best. Educate your team, put things in motion, and know when you have to look for a new cloud provider. Can the cloud really save money? Yes – but only if you plan everything first. Otherwise, that simply move can cost you money, and that’s never a good thing!
