Industry Insights with Andrew Stevens

Next-Generation Technologies & Secure Development

Secure Cloud Migration 101

Cloud Migration Is a Journey, not a Destination
Secure Cloud Migration 101

Cloud migration is a journey, not a destination. Learn the basics of security for making the (gradual) switch so you can get the most out of what the cloud has to offer.

See Also: When Every Identity is at Risk, Where Do You Begin?

Think of cloud migration like moving from your childhood home to a new home. Organizations may resist the move to the cloud because they finally feel comfortable and in control of their on-premises solutions, but the move is necessary in order to meet business demands and stay relevant.

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"Think of cloud migration like moving from your childhood home to a new home. On the outset, leaving behind the familiar is difficult, but when you remind yourself about the dream kitchen or big backyard that awaits you, it helps ease the stress."

Migrating to the cloud isn’t a one-day event. You need to plan in advance to make the transition as smooth and safe as possible.

And having a strong security strategy in place can help alleviate a lot of headaches. Let's start by taking a look at why you should make the move and then how you can do so with security at the forefront.

Benefits

There's a reason 61% of businesses migrated their workloads to the cloud in 2020. Actually, there are five reasons. They are:

  1. Security: Many cloud offerings were built from the ground up with security as the main priority. Cloud service providers, or CSPs, such as Amazon Web Services, or AWS, and Microsoft Azure take care of tougher security issues, such as protecting the infrastructure and access to it as part of the shared responsibility model. More on your share later.
  2. Scalability: The COVID-19 pandemic has spurred new levels of connectedness, ranging from demands for remote working, online learning and collaboration platforms, quicker shipping and delivery and even vaccine-related apps. The cloud allows businesses to transform their infrastructure by scaling more easily and quickly and thanks to cloud-native security solutions, security grows with it without having to install and configure multiple point products.
  3. Cost: Migrating to the cloud pays off. You save money on energy costs, upfront capital costs and hardware costs. For example, Myers-Briggs Co. reduced its total cost ownership for data storage by at least 50% by moving its data from on-premises to the cloud. Also, more than 40% of IT decision makers cited cost savings as a major driver for cloud-adoption.
  4. Performance: Ever felt like your systems couldn't keep up with your pace? The cloud can provide a better user experience due to the fact the data doesn't have to travel as far from cloud data centers to the users, reducing latency. This is not only great for meeting consumer needs, but for remote employees as well.
  5. Flexibility: With offices shutting down due to the pandemic, the number of remote U.S. workers increased from 20% to 71% by the end of 2020. With a sudden influx of remote workers, enterprises needed more flexible security to adapt to the circumstances. Greater platform and service flexibility are the most valuable benefits from using multiple public cloud platforms, according to 43% of all enterprise IT leaders surveyed in the IDG Cloud Computing 2020 report.

How Security Differs

While the goals for cybersecurity remain the same for on-premises and the cloud, the approaches are different in each environment. You can’t apply the same on-premises security strategy to the cloud and think it will work - just as you can’t use your car keys to unlock the front door.

We mentioned earlier that CSPs are responsible for the protecting the service, but it's crucial to remember that you are responsible for the configurations and ensuring whatever data comes in and out is safe.

How to Make Security Easier

Considering the challenges security teams face today with too many false-positive alerts, limited resources, new vectors for breaches and more demanding compliance requirements, we understand it's a big undertaking.

Security isn’t one-size-fits-all, so make sure you consider a vendor that works as a partner to address your specific needs.

But there are important capabilities that will make your migration easier. You need a solution that provides you with:

  • Increased visibility across your entire infrastructure: With more endpoints, access points and networks to secure than ever before, ensuring that you have total visibility from one single platform is essential. Using a platform solution saves you time trying to put the pieces together by giving you the entire picture at once for faster protection, detection and response.
  • Managing compliance: With so many rapidly moving parts and more access points in the cloud, staying on top of compliance is vital in order to avoid fines from GDPR, HIPAA and PCI-DSS and ensure that apps are secure. Consider a solution that helps address compliance requirements today and for the future.
  • Automation, automation, automation: Using a security solution that has extensive automation is vital to helping your organization simplify and scale cloud migrations. Automating tasks from routine maintenance to running compliance checks to API integration with other tools in your environment will reduce the burden on your security team and give you more awareness into real-time threats.

Security From a Single Platform

You could just abruptly move into the cloud without a cybersecurity plan in place, but you've left yourself exposed to malicious actors who could steal your data. With the proper security strategy and solution in hand, you can transition to the cloud smoothly and confidently.

Trend Micro Cloud One is a cloud security services platform that provides security at every point of your cloud migration journey and security for hybrid - data center and cloud, multi-cloud environments and services.

Next Steps

You shouldn’t buy a home without seeing it in person first. The same applies for a security solution. See how Trend Micro Cloud One can aid your cloud migration journey with a free 30-day trial.



About the Author

Andrew Stevens

Andrew Stevens

Director of Product Marketing, TrendMicro

As a senior manager for Secure Computings network gateway product line, Andrew has led strategic efforts in several areas including the companys entry into the firewall appliance market, new business partnerships, and acquisition & integration of several firewall products. Prior to joining Secure Computing, Mr. Stevens held several computer and networking positions with education, federal and local government organizations. Mr. Stevens has been involved with network security at Secure Computing for over 11 years and has a background in computer networking for 16 years. He is frequently called upon to speak at many industry and security conferences on the topics of network gateway security and application firewall technologies. Mr. Stevens has broad experience in the European and Asia/Pacific regions and earned his degree in Business Information Systems from Algonquin College in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.




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