One of the places technology experts love to talk about is the cloud. It’s considered the advance in technology that everyone was waiting for, apart from artificial intelligence. The cloud promised to bring revolutionary breakthroughs in business, some of which we are seeing right now.
It brings us the ability to collaborate with each other, a place to store our documents, and gives us a place to access software that we normally wouldn’t have access to. Cloud technology has given us benefits all around.
However, cloud technology also means putting your information in the hands of other companies. These companies are holding a lot of data that contains valuable information, and one might wonder how that information is being used.
People might also think about the series of high profile attacks that have been taking place, and it makes you wonder if cloud storage companies are prepared against these threats. After all, if people could get into a cloud server, that’s a lot of information that could be used for different purposes.
This might worry people who have spent a lot of time and resources working with cloud software. After all, no one wants to be put at risk, and no one wants their data being used by a company without their consent.
That being said, cloud solutions are a lot safer than you might be thinking. Despite the obvious risks that may be apparent, you’re a lot better off trusting the cloud than trying to do everything yourself. You wouldn’t be stupid for trusting the cloud either, because it’s backed with actual evidence.
Cloud Providers Most Likely Have Better Security Than You
One of the main reasons the service industry has been able to prosper is because companies label themselves as experts and can demonstrate that expertise.
This isn’t shady, nor is it wrong. You work with experts because they know more about the subject than the average person, and are thus better equipped to help you. They may charge a premium for their knowledge, but getting their services often saves you more money and time in the long run.
Your company may be staffed with the best in your industry. However, you might also have to admit that there will be some areas of your office that you are ignorant about. There’s nothing wrong with that; that’s a fact you cannot change if you choose to specialize.
Experts have the knowledge and the resources to handle problems and situations that happen in their industry. Compared to the average person, they have more experience and tools to properly handle a situation, fix a problem or work on an improvement.
Let’s look at cloud technology companies. Companies like Google, Amazon, Microsoft and SAP. They’re hiring the best technology experts they can find. Experts in IT security, IT risk analysis, IT services, the list goes on.
These are experts who have handled problems before and dealt with them properly.
Unlike your personal computer (or your company server handled by a single IT employee), these companies often have tens or hundreds of employees protecting customer information around the clock, and constantly defending your data against the threats that are coming in every day.
You could try doing this yourself, but monitoring your server and coming up with an answer to all the threats will likely distract you from your normal operations. You might also not be able to properly keep an eye on security as you aren’t entirely sure what to look for.
Technology companies, on the other hand, are the experts in this. Yes, there will always be a growing number of threats and attacks will not be stopped. But you would rather have an expert take care of your cloud security than to spend the time and effort doing it yourself.
It’s the same logic with keeping your money at the bank or in a shoebox under your bed. Yes, you can lose money in both cases, and there are reasons why you would choose one option over another, but at the end of the day, banks are clearly safer places to put your money.
You can be sceptical of cloud services, but at the end of the day, the companies running in the cloud have far better security than you will have. They also have trained experts designed to ensure that your data is not compromised.
Cloud Providers Don’t Need Your Data
Privacy is one of the biggest concerns that people bring up when it comes to the cloud. After all, once you upload data to the cloud, you don’t have the ownership that you thought you would. The ownership is now in the hands of the company.
While you can access the data anytime you want, it might be moved around in the cloud or stored in locations which you are not aware of. It’s still in the company’s possession, as it is moved around to data centres that the company controls.
This worries people, as they wonder how a company can do that with their data, and wonder if the company might be using it.
In truth, that data is rarely touched as much as you think it is. The technology companies are more interested in keeping everyone’s data safe and making sure their services work. They are able to access this data (ie. In the event you forget your password) but generally there is too much data for one company to take the time to pinpoint without good reason.
The networks are also very secure, meaning it will be difficult for anyone to access any information. You might have heard of encryption, which means any unauthorized access of your information will result in the information being illegible.
While your data is stored on someone else’s server, no one is constantly pouring over the contents. The data is just moved from location to location, while ensuring that it is still accessible for you.
The Cloud Is Quite Safe
While technology has its risks, cloud technology is one of the safer technologies in the market.
It is run by people who have far more experience than the average consumer, and your data is protected against attacks as much as possible. If they are attacked successfully, your own protections wouldn’t put up much of a fight.
There are also many other companies and individuals who use their services, making the company’s focus on maintaining and improving their system, rather than combing over files looking for data.
Don’t worry too much about using the cloud, and enjoy the benefits that it can bring to your company.
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