The centralization of apps, data, and management that’s an essential part of well-conceived and well-managed Cloud environments also helps make them more secure. Why? Because security policy is easier to enforce, threats to apps and data are easier to detect and address. 

Since Cloud data and apps are centralized in a data center, it’s actually easier (as compared to traditional siloed IT infrastructures) to establish effective security policy, monitor compliance, and intervene quickly and often preventatively when there are issues

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In the right Cloud environment, IT performance goes up while IT costs go down. 

Here’s how IT performance goes up:

1. Applications are hosted on centralized virtual servers in a data center, so …
   • Each department or end-user no longer needs their own copy of the app,
   • There’s just one version of the app, designed to be sufficiently flexible and customizable so all can use it on a variety of devices, and
   • Services are easily scalable, more secure, and more reliable.
2. Applications can be quickly and automatically provided on demand wherever they’re needed, so …
   • IT resources are optimized,
   • The entire IT environment is more responsive and flexible without adding work or cost, and
   • Access to resources improves without new implementation/deployment risks.
3. And end-users and their departments — as well as trusted partners — can be networked far more cost-effectively, regardless of location, via a standardized platform that enables integration and process automation between internal departments and partners. 

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Not so long ago, I came across a press release from Gartner, the analyst firm, which quoted one of its vice presidents saying:

“IT organizations that do not match the request for IT as a service run the risk of internal customers bypassing the IT organization and consuming IT services from the external cloud, thereby placing the company at greater risk.” 

It turns out that the analysts at Gartner see a world of hybrid IT architectures. Their view is that IT organizations are becoming brokers of IT services, some of which are hosted internally, some of which reside in externally hosted Clouds.  

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It’s pretty clear that mobility will be a major factor in why organizations of all sizes turn to Cloud Computing. The numbers speak for themselves:  

More than 2.5 billion users will connect to the Internet over the next several years via more than 10 billion devices. By 2015, this demand will require 8 times the storage capacity of 2010 as well as 16 times the network capacity and upwards of 20 times the compute capacity.

So here’s how it’ll go …

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For years, traditional siloed IT has been so rigid that even cast-in-concrete, one-size fits-all cloud services offer important improvements. This IBM study from last year shows where those improvements are: In flexibility, scalability, and efficiency — as well as reducing costs and providing the ability to ensure business continuity in the face of unanticipated disruption. 

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The siloed nature of traditional data center architectures has produced “you-can’t-get-there-from-here” IT environments. Too often applications, data, and storage devices don’t interact, resources are wasted (e.g., one workload per server), and complex management hassles often lead to risky administrative lapses that result in security vulnerabilities . 

The result: IT infrastructures that are too unwieldy, too expensive, and too slow at a time when agility and responsiveness are essential for success. 

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We’re seeing more and more interest in Cloud Computing of late — and some lingering confusion about both what it is and what Cloud options a small-to-midsize business really has these days.

So buckle your seatbelts. I’m going to discuss Cloud, and in the process, I’ll lay out what I see as the benefits of Cloud Computing — especially when it’s done right. (And yes, I’ll get to that, too, so keep dropping by…)

OK, so in the beginning there was Cloud Computing. Last year, the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) was kind enough to offer up a definition, which has since become something of a standard:

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The data discovery and identification aspect of data loss prevention (DLP) capability is just the beginning. Once you know what data you have and where it lives, you’re finally in a position to accomplish two crucial things:

1. Manage and enforce security policies. DLP makes it possible to manage and apply security policies across the enterprise, reducing burdens on IT staff while boosting compliance. For instance, solid DLP solutions automatically encrypt sensitive data to regulatory and compliance standards, and those focused on data in motion come with on-board email encryption that integrates with leading encryption services.
   
   This ability to manage not just security policy but also security enforcement is especially important, given the proliferation of employee communication venues (e.g., email, IM, the Web, social media), work locations, and devices, some of which are employee-owned and inevitably used for personal activities.
   
2. Monitor and regulate how sensitive data gets used, moved, and stored. With DLP, you’ll not only gain visibility into policy violations, you’ll be able to automatically enforce policies and compliance (and get employees to behave when it comes to data use). 
   
   DLP enables you to secure data proactively via automatic quarantine, relocation, and support for policy-based encryption. You can enable active blocking at the network as well as endpoint to prevent data from inappropriately leaving the organization. And you’ll know who attempted what and when.