Moving your business to the cloud
The Cloud has never been more accessible or affordable for any size business, from SMEs to large corporates. While moving to the cloud is an obvious next step when scaling your business IT ecosystem, there are important considerations in terms of the implications of on-premise versus cloud security, as well as the connectivity needed to make the migration successfully.
Security considerations
Cloud security refers to the various solutions and features that data centers offer to providers/end-users and includes the likes of access management, data recovery, back up options, legal compliance, and risk management. Essentially, all of the company’s applications are hosted offsite and you would need an internet connection to access it remotely. It offers centralised visibility, 24/7/365 monitoring and regular vulnerability assessments, with a proactive and iterative approach to security monitoring. On the downside, a server downtime can shut down your operations.
On-premise security comprises security measures and the on-premise software run on a company’s hardware infrastructure locally. It does impose higher operational costs as you own the physical equipment and must monitor and manage the environment on a 24/7 basis. It also requires significant human resources as on-premise solutions require security teams to manually initiate security assessments and testing – far from ideal.
The decision between on-premise and cloud security depends entirely on your business needs, budget and control you want over your data. Some businesses may want to secure mission-critical data but avoid the capital outlay and ongoing costs of owning physical infrastructure and maintenance, and thus prefer cloud security solutions. Other types of data and sensitive information may be subject to industry regulations where hosting data on the cloud, and international data laws may prove problematic, making on-premise security the preferred solution.
The importance of a quality fibre connection when moving to the cloud
One of the most crucial factors in implementing cloud solutions is the quality of the internet connection backed with a business service level agreement that includes failovers and diverse paths. Because of its high capacity, reliability, security and relatively low cost, fibre internet connectivity provides the connection over which cloud connectivity takes place. Transferring data between users and the cloud is a bandwidth-hungry animal, requiring a connection like fibre that can carry trillions of bits per second, with symmetrical upload and download speeds, uncontended lines and can carry the vast amount of traffic over the internet to and from your cloud host, with a minimum of latency.
Global MEF compliance makes a big difference when it comes to cloud
The Carrier Ethernet 3.0 (CE 3.0) program is a Metro Ethernet Forum (MEF) framework, through which service providers and equipment vendors in any geography can demonstrate their compliance with globally recognised MEF Carrier Ethernet service specifications. MetroFibre Networx owns and manages SA’s first globally compliant Carrier Ethernet 3.0 (CE 3.0) open-access fibre network which improves access, scalability and reliability for clients, and connects over 60 cloud, application, voice and Internet service providers with their customers. Through strategic partnerships and relationships with leading data centres, MetroFibre can also directly link customers to the world’s unrivalled cloud operators such as Microsoft Azure, AWS and Google.