Cloud space over the last decade has seen an exponential growth and acquisition of Red Hat by IBM for $33.4 billion gives us the idea that how the cloud computing space will pan out over the next decade. Here are some of the cloud service providers, who have been leading the race of service provider,

1. IBM Cloud

On March 2011, IBM announced the IBM smart cloud framework to support the smarter planet. IBM cloud is reasonably priced with pre-configured tools that can be customized according to user needs. IBM cloud offers service such as Platform as a Service (PaaS), Software as a Service (SaaS) and infrastructure as a Service (IaaS). IBM offers a wide range of cloud services both virtual and hardware-based servers for different types of networks like the public, private and management networks.

The hardware and virtual based servers are combined into an on-demand cloud platform. The on-demand cloud platform helps the user to achieve a complete infrastructure control. This provides the user a sole access to the entire server. The combination of hardware and virtual based servers will help reduce the security issues and improve the server speed.

IBM cloud is integrated and managed by a single system that can be controlled via a web portal or API (Application Programming Interface) or mobile apps. IBM cloud offers full server customization for the user with features such as pay as a feature and also handpicking the server.

IBM also offers Lite Tier, which offers flexibility in duration along with 256 MB of cloud foundry memory. These options help you certain the features the user wants to use and pay only for them.

2. Amazon Web Services (AWS)

Amazon Web Services (AWS) was founded in 2006; it provides on-demand cloud computing to individuals and organizations. AWS offers an extensive range of services in IaaS and PaaS domain. AWS offers extensive admin control via the secure web client. Users can access a number of features like encryption key creation and auditing.   AWS lets the user customize the infrastructure requirements. This cost is far less if the user can set up the infrastructure in own premises.  The EC2 service provides the user with the flexibility of acquiring and running servers as necessary.

AWS has three different pricing models: Pay as you Go, save when you reserve and pay less using more. AWS also offers a free 12 month trial period after that you can choose a paid plan.

3. Microsoft Azure

Microsoft Azure was released in 2010 and users can run any service on the cloud or combine with existing applications, data center or infrastructure. Microsoft Azure offers a wide variety of computing solutions taking into account different industry requirements.  Azure doesn’t require physical servers on site; this reduces the cost of the server and also the cost of the server support team. The migration center from Azure also helps in transferring the data much faster and easier.

A 12-month free trial period is offered which includes access to all popular services along with $200 credit and 25 always free services. The user can tailor each of the plans according to the needs.

4. Google Cloud

Google Cloud Platform is a Google cloud service provider to create business solutions using modular web services. For the user, Google provides multilayer secured infrastructure to help the user to build, modify, save and share data securely. This is done through transparency in data protection and a team of highly skilled engineers working on the same.

Google cloud has a variety of tools to ensure consistent performance and management here most frequently used tools App Engine, container engine, cloud storage, computer engine, and big query. The user can have a smooth transition to virtual machines with flexible pricing.

5. Rackspace Cloud

Rackspace Cloud is a cloud-computing product company based in the United States (US). Rackspace was founded in the year 2006 and it’s one of the first companies to introduce a cloud computing product along with Microsoft releasing Azure in 2010. The Rackspace big cloud platform became a foremost cloud- computing product provider with its unique approach of big cloud platform with a personal touch for users.

Rackspace allows the user to choose a cloud provider with that user can easily interact using a Rackspace platform. The product developed by Rackspace works with major cloud providers such as Amazon Web Services (AWS), Microsoft Azure and VMware. The advantages of using Rackspace are the user has some of the biggest cloud providers for stability and for scalability user has a customer support of a smaller company.

The public cloud option provides quick and easy access to the IT resources the user needs to reduce the cost of the data center management. Public cloud is a multi-tenant service offers user service of “pay-as-use”. Public cloud is ideal for users that have heavy or unpredictable traffic. For more information on the cloud, you can download our whitepaper.

Rackspace offers a wide range of cloud service this includes public, private, hybrid and multi-cloud service. In the IaaS solution, Rackspace has now built an entirely different open source system as it uses the operating system Open Stack.

The private cloud offers the option of a single tenant environment, eliminating the noisy neighbor effects with reduced the server speed. The private cloud offers maximum security, dedicated only for your use. The cost of a private cloud is higher compared to a public cloud.  Rackspace also has the option of hybrid cloud which gives access to a combination of both private and public cloud.

The user can sign-up for Rackspace for free this will include features like security guidance, technical account manager, free server monitoring, and reporting. Rackspace has an in-depth guide to their prices and features offered they can even be customized according to your needs.

For more information on cloud computing based on performance, pricing and storage download our whitepaper on cloud computing.

Every cloud security providers should qualify certain terms like:

1. Encryption of data and documents stored on the cloud.

2. Layers of security protection for data stored on a public cloud.

3. Easy monitoring of access point to check unrestricted access.

4. Securing cloud applications.

5. Policies for cloud governance

Let’s discuss the different cloud security software’s and suit organizational requirements in securing the data:

AlienVault Unified Security Management (USM)

AlienVault Unified Security Management (USM) is used for cloud threat detection, incident response and policy management across the cloud. AlienVault USM has different types of products available based on the requirements of the organizations- USM Anywhere, USM for MSSPs, and Managed Security Services powered by USM. USM Anywhere is specifically designed for cloud and its applications, USM for MSSPs and Managed Security Services powered by USM is for secured networks. The USM Anywhere platform is cost-effective, speedy deployment and simple to manage. It significantly reduces the cost and delays caused due to on-site installation, management, and hardware maintenance.

AlienVault Unified Security Management (USM) Anywhere is an all-in-one security management software based on SaaS technology. The SaaS security management platform converges and reduces threat with detection, incident response and compliance management across cloud and on-premises servers. Unified Security Management (USM) Anywhere stands by its name- asset finding, risk assessment, intrusion detection (network, host, and cloud), response to risk, risk management and reporting can be done through a unified platform. USM provides the IT admin with actionable insights for risk response.  It helps organizations to skip the process of purchase, integrate, and manage multiple security products.

Key Features:

USM Anywhere provides the following security features that act as important touch points for the organizations to manage their cloud security

1. Vulnerability Assessment: Scanning live network and risk assessment monitoring.

2. Asset Discovery: Built-in active and passive network discovery, infrastructure inventory and software inventory.

3. Behavior monitoring: Monitoring the behavior of users across the infrastructure- on-premises network, and cloud assets.

4. SIEM or Cloud management: Event Correlation, analysis, and reporting.

5. Threat Detection: Cloud IDS (AWS IDS, Azure IDS), Host IDS (HIDS), Network IDS (NIDS) and file integrity monitoring.

6. Incident Response: Policies for risk containment and mitigation.

7. Compliance Reporting: Customized reports according to the policies and compliance according to the requirements.

AlienVault Unified Security Management (USM) is a good fit for all organizations of any size without straining security teams and cost. USM provides an easy solution and cost-effective solutions to eliminate multiple products that need to be integrated.

Open DNS Umbrella

Open DNS Umbrella is a security product developed by Cisco and is a combination of features of Umbrella and OpenDNS. Cisco brought OpenDNS for $ 635 million in cash in 2015, OpenDNS was an Internet Security Service provider preventing users from connecting to dangerous IP addresses that are associated with malicious links and downloads. Cisco Open DNS Umbrella provides the security needed to protect users across all devices connected to the organization’s network and remote users accessing the organization’s network. The combination of umbrella and Cisco Cloudlock’s helps the organization identify SaaS apps can be used to implement the policies. Stop an attack even before the actual launch of the attack. Umbrella solves more than 100 billion internet requests every day by analyzing live data of over more than 11 billion historical events. The insights help in detecting the threats and block them.

Organizations that are currently using Cisco security tools are also leveraging the machine learning to uncover the known and emerging threats. Block all the connection to threats at the DNS and IP layer. Using Cisco open DNS umbrella organizations can integrate the existing system, security appliances, cloud and lets the security to be extended for locations and devices beyond the perimeter. Umbrella is a cloud-delivered internet gateway that shields all ports and devices over current and future threats. It’s a cloud-based security service so no hardware or no software is required.

Netskope Security

The patented cloud XD technology eliminates the security leak points by going deeper than other security providers. It has the ability to quickly target malicious links or websites and control the activities across thousands of cloud services. Netskope Security cloud protects its users for every type of threat both common and advanced. Netskope cover thousands of cloud services through published cloud APIs or through inline decoding. Netskope security covers all kinds of devices connected to the organization’s cloud and works on all kinds of technology. Netskope is like having a comprehensive cloud DLP that can cover all the cloud traffic coming in from mobile apps, clients, and native apps to all off-premises devices allowing you to inspect all the traffic for violations.

Using the patented technology the user can view the real-time activity on the cloud this includes devices, location, date, time and content. The user can also control the activities of the visitor, such as share, approve, edit, download, and many more services can be included. Netskope believes in providing end to end security that means implementing cloud security throughout the globe with any number of users. Netskope would not in any interfere with user experience or the functioning of the cloud. Enterprises all over the world are accepting cloud as secured technology and uploading sensitive business data. This has resulted in regulations being implemented for data security and protecting the user data on the cloud. Cloud Security is imperative for more cloud adoption.

For more information, you can download our whitepapers from cloud & security.

The new configuration, Amazon S3 Block Public Access can work on the account level, individual buckets and future buckets created by the user. It will give user extra accessibility to block existing public access or control the access for newly created items. The new feature is an extension of already available access controls like Access Control Lists (ACL), or Identity and Identity Access Management (IAM) bucket policies. Users will not be charged any extra amount for the configuration feature aside from usual prices for a request made for S3 API.

The ACL and policies gave the user flexibility so that you can grant permission to multiple accounts; restrict access to specific IP addresses, granting access to other accounts to upload new objects in a bucket, use of Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) and many more features.

New Amazon S3 Block Public Access

The new level of protection works on buckets and objects making it easier for the user to control. It works on the account level and individual buckets, including your future requirements. Using the new Amazon S3 block will help to block existing public access and also block the newly created items. In case of AWS account being used to host the data or application the public level protection will act as a guard against accidental public exposure. The public access is used for different types of web hosting.

When dealing with public access settings for the AWS account, you have two options to deal with- Manage Public Access Control Lists (ACLs) and Manage Public Bucket Policies.

Here are some points to take into consideration while dealing with them:

1. Block new public ACLs and Uploading public objects: The option allows the user to configure buckets and objects, disallowing them to use a new public bucket or object ACL. The option will not affect the existing buckets or objects but will ensure that future PUT requests that include ACL option will fail. The setting can be used to protect against future attempt to use ACL to create buckets or objects public. If an application tries to upload an object with public ACL or if an admin tries to apply the public setting to the bucket it will block the public access setting for the bucket.

2. Remove public access granted through public ACLs: The option allows the user to set S3 and not to evaluate any public ACL while authorizing a request. This ensures that no buckets or objects can be made public using ACLs. The setting overrides current or future public access setting. The setting will override the setting of an object that is currently uploading using public ACLs.

3. Block new public bucket policies: This option discards all the new public bucket policies and is used to ensure that future PUT requests that include them will fail. However, this would not affect the existing buckets or objects to ensure that bucket policy cannot be updated to grant public access.

4. Block Public and cross-account access to buckets that have public policies: The options set the bucket that is publicly accessible could be accessed by bucket owner and AWS services.  This option will protect buckets that have public policies and also your functions. It protects the data in the bucket from becoming publicly accessible. AWS wants to make that the user use public buckets and objects without making them publicly accessible just due to certain misconfiguration. It has been a long-term problem for the Amazon cloud service and its users. Cloud is a shared responsibility while the provider is responsible “Of cloud” i.e. infrastructure and the user is responsible “in Cloud” i.e. configuration. AWS recently also changed the color of objects and buckets that are public so that a user can easily identify them.

Conclusion:

The recent high profile leaks have led many experts commenting that the ease of using cloud depends on the user. It’s important that you take the responsibility of the cloud as your system and configure it utmost security. Hiring cloud security personnel will be better than having just an IT personnel handling the configuration of the cloud.

For more information on cloud configuration, you can download our Whitepaper.

The demand for cloud data centers would also increase because enterprises would now be burdening the data center servers to handle processing and traffic. The implementation of the Internet of Things (IoT) such as smart cities and electronic health devices will require a cloud-based technology. Cisco believes that IoT connections will reach nearly 13.7 billion up from 5.8 billion in 2016.  The networking giant said that data centers will be holding 53 percent of the servers, increase from 27 percent in 2016. The need for Hyper-scale data centers that will act as a cloud platform will increase from 338 to 628 by 2021. The amount of data stored in the datacenter has seen a rapid increase from 51 percent to 65 percent by 2021. Download a whitepaper on Cloud Data Center Solutions.

The Hyper-Scale Cloud Data Centers Are Defined By Cisco In Simple Terms

1. A company must have more than $1 Billion in Infrastructure-as-a-service (IaaS) or Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS). Examples- Amazon/AWS, Rackspace, NTT, IBM or A company that has $2 Billion in Software-as-a-Service (SaaS). Examples- Salesforce, Google, Microsoft or Oracle.

2. An internet/ search/ social networking with $4 Billion. Example- Facebook, Apple, Tencent or Yahoo or For E-commerce, the bar is higher with over $8 Billion. Examples- Amazon, eBay or Alibaba.

Cisco also added that by 2021, 94 percent of the workload and computing instances will be processed by cloud data centers. Cloud data centers will be contributing to a higher level of virtualization, automation, standardization and security than all other traditional data centers. According to a statement given by Cisco, cloud data centers offered an increased capacity in performance, memory, and ease of management. Virtualizations offered the hardware and software consolidation, automation and better security approach.

The overall data center workload will also increase by almost 2.3 fold from 2016 to 2021. The cloud computing will triple over the same period. Here are some more stats:

1. Big data will increase to 403 EB by 2021 up by almost eight-fold from 25 EB in 2016. Big data will hold almost 30 percent of the data in data centers that would be increased from 18 percent in 2016.

2. IoT will become a major technology that will utilize the cloud. The data created by any device will reach almost 847ZB per year by 2021.

3. SaaS will be one of the most popular cloud services with over 75 percent of the cloud workload being shifted. IaaS will see a reduction from 21 percent to 16 percent and PaaS would remain the same.

A major insurance company situated in London recently made a shift from conservative data solutions to the AWS cloud. A statement released by the “Data is lifeblood. The only way to win an insurance business is to better predict the risk of individuals or assets. It also gives an overview of growth options we can explore.”

Here are some of the cloud solution options that can suit your business requirements- AWS, Cisco, IBM, NetApp, Oracle are some of the actively used.

To know more about cloud data center solutions you can download our whitepaper.

The Sagemaker uses a different machine, and deep learning framework for the following tools MXNet, TensorFlow, Chainer, and PyTorch. This helps in preparing and labeling the data, using different types of algorithm, deployment optimization according to the requirement, creating a model to make decisions and helping them convert into actions.

AWS is on a mission that will put machine learning in the hands of every developer and it directly connects with their recent launch of SageMaker. The launch of SageMaker in 2017 has made it one of the fastest growing services in the AWS history used by thousands of customers globally. Machine learning is developed on the concept that it solves the customer problem and saves time in problem-solving. Many Customers are using AWS for cloud and data center solutions, providing them different algorithm and model helping the user to solve the problems without investing again into machine learning.

The new machine learning category created by AWS offers different types of models in the marketplace that includes more than 150 algorithms and model package developed, with many new algorithms being added every day to solve different user and enterprise requirements for machine learning and models. Currently Retail has 35 products, media 19 products, manufacturing 17 products, and HCLS with 15 products and many more. The customers can find solutions to different user problems such as medical problems- Predict breast cancer risk, emergency service requirement according to the day, region and time using Machine Learning.

For more details on the Web Services, download our Whitepapers.

The customers can deploy the algorithms and model packages at AWS marketplace. For example, if a user subscribes for a machine learning solution they can directly deploy for the following using any one of the following:

1. SageMaker console.
2. SageMaker SDK.
3. Jupyter Notebook.
4. AWS CLI. 

The Amazon SageMaker also protects users against threats by implementing security measures such as static scans, network isolation, and runtime monitoring. For the developers who use AWS as a marketplace for developing machine learning models and give access to users. The secured SLL connection for communication helps to deploy, ensuring the role-based access for deployment. AWS is giving a secured way for developers to monetize their work publishing different algorithm and model.

The access to the machine learning category can be done through the AWS marketplace, that can be achieved through Amazon SageMaker console or using the AWS marketplace. Once the algorithm has been successfully subscribed it can be accessed by the user using the console- SDK and AWS CLI. The algorithm and model can be deployed using a different model or algorithm by selecting the AWS marketplace.

Customers can pay for the subscription of the algorithm and model package combined along with the AWS resource fee. The AWS provides a consolidated monthly bill for all the purchased subscriptions. The AWS marketplace for machine learning can include different algorithm and model that includes deep vision AI inc, Knowledgent, Persistent Systems, H2Oai, Intel Corporation and many more are being added every day to cater to the requirements of enterprises.

Conclusion:

AWS offers end-to-end solutions for applying different machine learning algorithms and models along with deployment and usage of the data. This helps many enterprises to directly using Amazon SageMaker for the deployment of the algorithm over the data without investing in creating, testing and deploying the Algorithm for the data. For more details, download our Whitepapers.

An enterprise can increase and decrease the resources data centers and servers according to the requirements of applications. This gives enterprises the option to reduce cost and also maintain the required mobility.

CLOUD AFFECTING THE DATA ECOSYSTEM FOR ENTERPRISES

The global connection and effectiveness to maintain network connection across different resources have impacted the cloud computing adopters. Negating the local governance for data regulations and compliance standards, the enterprises can push towards more open-environment. The cloud will now eliminate the user location or enterprise location, making an independent entity but still remotely controllable. A developer might be sitting in Berlin but can access the data from Fiji of the user who is sitting in the United States. The location flexibility has created a whole new concept for the data scientists and developer. In emerging economies, different location can access the data providing an opportunity for leveraging talent and induce better resource management.

The global ecosystem of data has changed the data solutions. Enterprises have started placing the programmers outside the physical offices wherein the individuals and teams could have access to the enterprise resources. Geographical barriers that were previously eroding the solutions for transformational technologies are now being innovatively inventive enough for the emerging markets. Working in the environment wherein the location is not a constraint helps in to test different process and environment.

Developing economies such as Brazil, China, India, and South Africa are the contributing markets that are affecting the cloud development ecosystems. Developed ecosystems such as the United States, United Kingdom, Germany, and France are also inducting the diversity in the cloud development. For the survey, a group of 360 executives was interviewed from both the economies along with targeting the five key sectors in these economies retail, banking, education, healthcare, and manufacturing.

The survey gave out some amazing results that showed developing economies are considerably higher in terms of cloud adoption for daily business operation. This also gave the enterprises an overall view that developing economies could be a point for greater innovation in the cloud infrastructure.

The 80 percent of organizations in developing economies are adopting the cloud to fulfill the requirement for applications compared to the developed economies’ that are only 62 percent in the cloud adoption. Another insight drawn from the survey is that in developing economy’ entrepreneurs are being awarded the role of innovation, however in the developed economy government regulations are developing the cloud innovation.

HERE ARE SOME OF THE FINDINGS FROM THE SURVEY:

1. For Retail: Retail sectors are adopting cloud for better market analysis and reduce the consumer wait-time in different stores. Both developing and developed economies’ are catching up fast to induct cloud infrastructure in retail to help customers selling.

2. For Healthcare: Healthcare in the cloud is based on analytics and real-time solutions for emergency services. The developed economies view cloud as an imperative solution to treat remote patients and support preventive healthcare programs. For developing, the cloud acts as a solution in analyzing the healthcare facilities of different regions based on data analytics.

3. For Education: Adoption of cloud in the Education sector has been slower as compared to the others. The learning barriers and student preferences have resulted into slow adoption of cloud but will catch-up in the next five years.

4. For Banking: Lower the cost of banking and take the banking features into remote locations is the reason for the banking sector adopting cloud. Banking sectors in various economies’ are combining the cloud for better management of banking solutions.

Cloud as a Solution:

The biggest challenge for the adoption of cloud is security and both developed along with developing economies’ are looking towards the cloud with questions. The cloud solution providers have adopted various measures for secured cloud adoption for different sized enterprises.

For more details on cloud computing, you can download our whitepapers.

Data is not used as an active application, but it’s imperative when it comes to developing a better decision-making process based on meaningful insights. Enterprises that use data to gain insights into customer behavior need to store the data structurally and comply with security requirements that protect the data nature. Data Security is one important feature that needs to be added with applicability for any enterprises that want to make effective use of data.

Enterprises are currently leveraging the data to provide an analytical edge in decision making but it can also lead to cost saving for the data storage with new innovations. The CAPEX and OPEX are two financial factors that are being looked as the imperative for technology development of any data storage. Technology is the fundamental tool that would be developing the data storage, and it’s imperative that enterprises are able to innovate and introduce better data storage technology.

DATA STORAGE TECHNOLOGY FOR BETTER DATA STORAGE:

Containers:

Containers are just better ways to package the applications. The expectation to see the modern software getting defined into different containers based on their applicability. Containerization helps in delivering the dynamic APIs and delivers a programmable infrastructure. Containerization is able to deliver the packaged applications that can be redeployed, can be made editable or the files can be manifested

Machine learning:

The data won’t make any sense until we make the data structured. Carefully applied machine learning will significantly add value to the application. Machine Learning technology that deals with a huge amount of data usually forms a recognition pattern or structure derived from the data sets. The technology is used to find complex data patterns that reduce the time and effort to target a given consumer segment. Machine learning would mostly identify and create a new algorithm that can help in better data management.

Management as a Service (MaaS):

Getting an overview of the recent technology in data storage Management as a Service (MaaS) acts as built-in home support for data management. The cloud-based offering combined with hybrid architecture will replace the on-premise management solutions. All data management providers are shifting towards the cloud-hosted MaaS offering.

HERE ARE SOME MAJOR DATA SOLUTION PROVIDERS:

Cohesity Solutions:

Cohesity will help in leveraging cloud data and data in the on-premises environment. The Cohesity solution provides the archival possibility for the on-premise data, cloud-public and private, Amazon S3-compatible devices and QStar libraries. The solution provides data management to define the workflow for automated back-up and archiving of the data. Cohesity helps in using the cloud as an option to leverage retention and protection with a model “pay as you go”.

Rubrik:

Rubrik provides solutions to the enterprises that deal with the hybrid cloud environment. Rubrik supports the following storage and architectures: Archiving to the cloud storage using Google, VMWare, vSphere, Nutanix, AHV, and Microsoft Hype-V. The enterprises can use predictive analysis to access different types of archived data. Data reimaging is used to access the data that further reduces the cost of transfer and storage. Rubrik provides data encryption before the data is being transferred from different sources.

CONCLUSION:

There are many data storage solution providers that offer different solutions for different data load. While organizations adopt the new storage technology, they should keep in mind the modern development that might disrupt the data market in next few years like IoT and machine learning. As the enterprises are curating different technologies to deal with data, it’s important that the past data is also archived using proper technology that also helps in the retention.

The long-term focus should be to deal with on-premise data, cloud and modern data generating sources. The Return on Investment (RoI) will help them decide the investment options to deal with data solution providers. For more details, you can download our whitepapers.

The factor that differentiates the container from the cloud is the fact that they are minimalistic in nature. In a virtual machine, you need a complete OS environment to be adopted within the container. In containers, they will be able to operate with a minimum amount of resources- few pieces of software, libraries, and the underlying basic operating system. This provides better resources management as each container would be a separate entity that can be deployed on a server; a server can host a number of containers than a virtual machine.

Cloud containers can be very portable in-terms of the adoption as once the container has been created and it can be deployed to different services. For software developers, the development lifecycle can easily be integrated into the container environment with ease. Different steps like development, testing, integration, and live environments will not require usual configuration.

As 2018 ends and 2019 begins, container adoption will remain at the same pace or even increase but some of the trends will be quite adaptive in the current container environment.

PUBLIC CLOUD IMPLEMENTATION WITH KUBERNETES:

Microsoft Azure was one of the first large cloud providers to push the on-premises with stack offering that also supports the Kubernetes. All the major cloud providers will follow the suit soon. Google Kubernetes Engine (GKE) on-premise provides a single view of cloud and on-premise data center clusters. Using the Kubernetes, an open-source container orchestration system will automate the deployment, scaling, and management. Originally designed by the Google, Kubernetes is maintained by the Cloud Native Computing Foundation.

CLOUD ADOPTION WILL BE INCREASING:

As we saw the IBM and Redhat deal there will be an increase in the cloud partners being adopted for better technological support. With the increased adoption of cloud, many technology companies that previously were looking to gain traction into the cloud industry will see an adoption of cloud-based tech companies.

Considering the current needs of cloud computing, we provide recent cloud computing whitepapers for the enterprises.

HYBRID CLOUD ADOPTION WILL STILL REQUIRE SOME TIME:

The adoption of the multi-cloud has become a major reality but what we see in terms of the operation that’s far from the actual vision. Using the Kubernetes it’s possible for the apps to move towards the cheapest or fastest executive path that’s possible however the basic reality is currently preventing from the grand vision.

The current fulfillment of the hybrid cloud environment that helps realizing the complete promise of the Kubernetes is still far. A multi-cloud environment means that the containerized environment doesn’t really give the data access as multi-cloud, so each cloud is separate but same.

THE RISE OF SERVER-LESS STARTUPS:

Just as the containerization and docker resulted into the storm of micro-services and better utilization of the servers, with server-less we could see a force of tooling industry dominating the cloud environment. Startups that provide tools for different purposes covering security to performance management to multi-cloud will see a rise.

SHIFTING INTO THE CONTAINER ENVIRONMENT:

Containerization is speed-up the transfer of environment that lets virtual machine being converted in the container environment. Using the container technique different virtual machine will be stuffed in the container; in fact, it’s even called as Container-native virtualization.

The year 2019, will be the year we will see the adoption of cloud containers for better management of the data inside the private and public cloud. With policy-based optimization for the better offering of the computing capabilities and implementing the automation in the VM management. The new adoption of Containers-as-a-Service (CaaS) and Serverless-as-a-Service (SaaS) will be the basic cloud computing feature offered in a complete storyboard.

If we look towards the journey of virtual servers from physical servers it took over 10 years and the journey continued to break down into smaller chunks of computing.  Over the last 2 years, the adoption of the cloud has been increasing as it’s resulting in better resource management and server-less computing of different services.

To know more about cloud computing, you can download our Whitepapers.

AWS has been a
leading provider of the cloud service
and enterprises are rapidly adopting
the cloud data storage technology to move from legacy hardware to innovative
tech. The AWS offers security, affordable storage, and speed in the development of applications and products. AWS leads
the race in the enterprise public cloud platform of choice and for the Infrastructure-as-a-service
(IaaS).

In IaaS the providers rely on the shared responsibility
model for securing the operating system, platforms, and data. AWS takes the responsibility of the security for the cloud that includes
the infrastructure, hardware, software, and
facilities. The AWS version of the shared responsibility defines how Amazon will be securing the data itself, the
management of the platform applications and how they are accessed. The
different types of configuration will be the responsibility of the customers.

Customer side has control over the platform and access
management. The underlying the operating system, network, and firewall configuration are responsibility
of the customers. The customer is also responsible for the Privileged Access
Management (PAM) to secure the critical infrastructure and data. For security measure, AWS will be
managing the hardware, server software along with the networking technology
connecting the server.

ZERO TRUST WORLD TO DEAL WITH INCREASED SCRUTINY

Stolen privileged access credentials are one of the leading causes
of breaches in the modern tech era. Forrester found that 80 percent of data
breaches usually happen due to stolen
privileged credentials, and around 66 percent of enterprises are relying on the
manual methodologies of creditialing. Many enterprises spend more
revenue towards the traditional infrastructure solutions such as antivirus and
firmware. But the transition towards the cloud should be changed in the authentication architecture.

Enterprises deal with sensitive business data and cloud has been viewed as a solution for a more secure storage vault. But relying on the vaults alone is not enough. Enterprises need to transform their legacy Privileged Access Management strategy that deals with identity management, multi-factor authentication, privilege access timeline and secured the remote access of the data. A zero trust privilege will save the data from unauthorized access and also prevent unwanted data usage.

SIX BEST PRACTICES TO INCREASE THE AWS SECURITY

1. Valuation and Centralized

The AWS root user account is the most powerful account and
the enterprises should be cautious enough while using the account and also
sharing the password for the same. The password of the account should be
vaulted and only used during the emergency.
Using the centralized identity instead of using the local AWS IAM account and
access keys you can reduce the usage of long-lived keys.

2. Common Security Model and Identity Verification

When it comes to enterprises many of them believe that cloud
IaaS will be completely different from the other cloud services or legacy
instruments but they are not. IaaS doesn’t require a completely different security model; the conventional security and
compliance concepts can still be applied to the cloud. An enterprise can
actually leverage the resource requirement, decision making and privileges that
can be easily managed for each user.

3. Accountability

Accountability has been a major issue dealing with the
different industry standards- administrators as the privileged users and individual
account directory. Managing different entitlements centrally from the active
directory that can map roles of user and groups increases the accountability of
admin.

4. Least privilege access

Enterprises should grant the users just enough privileges
that can comfort them in completing the task in the AWS Management Console.
Implementing cross-platform privilege
management for AWS Management Console, Windows and Linux instances, admins can
reduce the management dealings.

5. Multi-Factor Authentication

Using the Multi-factor Authentication the enterprises will
be able to leverage the cloud security features. Securing with multi-factor
authentications creates better-channelized
policies to offer privileges to the
users.

6. Auditing

Most organizations fail to identify
security gaps in their cloud infrastructure because the in-house cloud admins
can’t identify the gaping holes. A third party audit will help you to identify
various external factors that will be affecting the security and also what
needs to improve in terms of privilege policies and standards of cloud infrastructure.

One of the biggest reasons why many enterprises cloud AWS accounts are being breached daily is because the privileged access credentials are compromised. The above mentioned six best practices will help to get an overview for increasing the AWS security. A need of a strategy that reduces the credential exposure and also makes the cloud security policies curtailed can make the enterprise a secured cloud environment. Enterprises that store sensitive data on the cloud need to implement the Zero Trust Privilege policy that eliminates the shared Amazon EC2 key pairs. To know more about cloud security, you can download our recent whitepapers

1. Data Governance And Compliance

Data jurisdiction is imperative solutions for the enterprises as they want their data in a friendly neighborhood rather than in a rogue nation. Cloud offers data flexibility and cost-saving option but enterprises need to understand that where exactly the maximum amount of data resides. Moving applications to the cloud don’t eliminate the certain types of data governance requirements and with multi-cloud strategy, enterprises can sure find themselves in a whirlwind that can result in hefty fines. The most recent is the GDPR from EU that will restrict the storage of data to locations other than European countries. The control of data will be much more complicated with multi-cloud strategy as each part of data or applications need to be monitored rather than innovated. With multi-cloud strategy combined with the hybrid cloud strategy, enterprises can store business-critical information on the private cloud, while also opting for regional cloud center to satisfy data governance.  A single cloud approach is becoming primitive and almost 90 percent of the enterprises will be using the multi-cloud services and platform by 2020.

2. The Complexity of Management

Multiplying the cloud environment means that multiplying the management for running those environments. It will all depend on the external and internal resources whether they can satisfy the technical skill requirements. The multi-cloud environment is been easily known as one of the most inevitable requirements that need to adopted by the enterprises. Having a resource or an IT team that can manage the total setup through a dashboard or third-party applications can also be deployed for the management.  The cloud management dashboard will also assist in creating management solutions for resources up-gradation and security patches.

3. Redundancy and Security

Redundancy and security are the two main pushovers why many enterprises are adopting the multi-cloud strategy combined with hybrid cloud. If one of your cloud services goes offline due to infrastructure failure the other cloud service can step in with their services. The multi-cloud strategy also offers flexibility in data security with ease of distributed data and applications over the multi-cloud environment. However, the redundancy and security need to tested before creating a fail-safe system for the multi-cloud.  The multi-cloud strategy needs to be controlled and tested for various environments before the actual situation implementation. Many times it happens that the multi-cloud strategy fails to deliver the required redundancy due to an outage of certain cloud infrastructure resulting in the applications going offline.

Cloud security is one of such situations that need to be addressed before multi-cloud adoption. The multi-cloud strategy doesn’t make the providers address the total control of the data security, the security of data ultimately relies on the enterprise’s responsibility. Also, the authentication process needs to be mandated for any type of access to data with given infrastructure such as routers, firewalls, and storage systems. As more enterprises embrace hybrid multi-cloud strategy, technology vendors and cloud services providers need to evolve the marketing approach.  According to the recent report by the IDC vendors, revenue from the sale of IT infrastructure for cloud environment for both public and private cloud has grown by 47.2 percent year over year in the third quarter of 2018, reaching almost $16.8 Billion. The quarterly spending for the public cloud IT infrastructure has doubled over the past three years reaching $12.1 billion in the last quarter of 2018. While for the private cloud grew at 28.3 percent counting $4.7 billion in revenue.   

IDC also reported that the total spending for the vendor revenue plus channel mark-up has reached almost $65.2 billion in 2018 with a growth rate of 37.2 percent years over year. The spending on public cloud will remain at higher proportions because the cloud has been cost efficient options rather than data storage options. The total spending on the cloud infrastructure has remained close to the 47.4 percent mark. Comparing to the technology growth cloud platforms has been catering at 59.1 percent, storage solutions at 20.4 percent and Ethernet solutions that are touching 18.5 percent. By 2022 it’s expected that we will be having 42.2 traditional non-cloud infrastructure IT spending. The growth in the cloud infrastructure and the fall in the overall IT infrastructure can be seen as a solution to various technology barriers that are halting the innovative technology to reach remote locations.

All regions grew their cloud infrastructure by almost double digits in the third quarter of 2018. The growth was seen to be highest in the Asia-pacific region hovering at 62.6 percent with the china being the dominant following 88.7 percent. North American regions- USA saw a growth of 44.2 percent while Canada saw the growth by 43.4 percent in the third quarter of 201. A truly hybrid cloud environment will help the enterprises to switch between cloud environments seamlessly. Whether it’s a private or public cloud that will be holding the enterprise critical applications will depend on the cloud provider’s sophistication.  If an enterprise is adopting the multi-cloud environment it means that for the most part, it has to manage the data and also have to strategies to maintain the hybrid environment.

To know more about the cloud solutions, you can download our whitepapers from our experts.