Cloud Data Management Strategies

Cloud-based data management is becoming increasingly popular for a variety of reasons. It is more cost-effective, flexible, and can be much faster. In this section, you will read more about data management in the cloud, its challenges, and what to keep in mind when creating a strategy for cloud data.

What Are The Benefits of Cloud-Based Data Management?

Historically, data management involved purchasing on-premise storage resources. These resources would need to be managed and regular system maintenance is required for their upkeep. This is a very secure option but it is steadily becoming less efficient. Now that there is a cloud, cloud-based data management has materialized as a favorable alternative for a number of corporations.

When it comes to cloud-based data management, corporations are able to purchase the resources that they need as they are needed. This means that there is less of an investment when taking this approach to data management. Because of that, it is the perfect solution to the issue of scalability. When more resources become necessary, they can be expanded.

Technology is continuously altering the landscape of business as a whole and the cloud-based approach to data management offers flexibility that can become crucial as things change. Cloud-based options can also make it easier to share, integrate, and apply data over time.

Finally, having data that is stored and managed in the cloud can protect it from being lost or corrupted by user error. It can help reduce access to make sure that only necessary and authorized personnel can get to it. There are innumerable benefits to modernizing your data management strategy.

What Are The Challenges of Cloud-Based Data Management?

Even though there are a lot of benefits that come along with adopting a cloud data management strategy, there are some challenges. The primary concern of cloud data management is security. When storage resources are on-premise, there are a lot of protections in place for the data being stored.

When things are in the cloud, they do not exist behind a dedicated firewall. Transmitting data, especially sensitive data, is something that can be cause for concern in terms of data security. There are regulations that dictate how data can be transmitted and there is always the risk of unauthorized access or some kind of leak. These risks can be amplified by opting for cloud data management if there are not proper protocols in place.

The transition to a cloud-based data management solution can also be difficult. Existing users within a corporation, or applications that rely on the data in order to function, will need to be updated in order to maintain compatibility with the cloud.

Acknowledging the potential problems of cloud data management is an important thing to do; however, you shouldn’t let this turn you off to the concept altogether. Instead, these issues just increase the importance of an airtight strategy for cloud data management to safeguard your data and your business.

Creating a Cloud-Based Strategy

Cloud data management is a great option for data management as a whole; technology in this space is always growing and capabilities expanding. When you choose cloud data management over on-premise options, you open up your business to faster, more advanced, and more efficient tools and processes. Using cloud data management as effectively as possible and doing everything you can to mitigate risk does not have to be difficult. The key to striking a balance between both of these things is creating a strong strategy for cloud-based data management.

There are four key things to consider when you are creating this strategy.

First, there is stored data. As we addressed before, data that is stored in the cloud is not protected by a firewall in the same way that on-premise data would be. The data that you are trying to manage is going to spend the majority of its life cycle in storage so you need to have a good strategy for protecting that data.

Best practice: Make sure that everything is encrypted.

Data accessibility is another important part of effectively managing data. There needs to be a balance here; employees need to be able to access the data necessary to get their jobs done but unfettered access poses significant security concerns. You need to have a strategy for making sure that data is both safe and accessible.

Best practice: Tailor access rights based on the needs of each employee, require authentication, and record all data transactions.

Next is the transmission of data. Whenever anyone accesses data that is stored in the cloud, it will have to travel from where it is stored to the point of access. This process is going to need to happen quickly and efficiently but you can’t jeopardize the security of the data in question. You need to map out a way for data transmissions to happen both swiftly and securely.

Best practice: Ensure that all users are authenticated and that the pathways that data will be transferred through are also encrypted. Consider time-limiting access so that no data can remain on insecure devices after access.

Finally, backup and recovery methods are important. When data is stored locally, backups also exist locally. In the cloud, you will need cloud-based backup and recovery solutions. However, if all of this information is stored in the same place, it will all be lost at once. You need to have a strategy for backups that includes multiple storage locations.

Best practice: Have a separate cloud for storing all backup and recovery data; make sure that you test these periodically just as you would if you were using on-premise data management.