Cloud Compliance: How Policies and Guidelines Ensure the Integrity of Your Client Data

Around the world, 85 percent of businesses already use the cloud for a variety of reasons. Many of them use the cloud to provide a secure backup. Others use it to power apps or to provide data storage.

The widespread adoption of the cloud has raised concerns about security. This is especially true when it comes to your client data. As a result, cloud compliance has become a hot topic in business and security circles alike.

Why is compliance so important? The policies and guidelines used can help protect the integrity of your client data. Here’s how.

Promotes Minimum Security Standards

Cloud compliance often focuses on improving security. In this way, various legal measures and standards create a “floor” for cloud security.

The creation of these minimums helps to set the bar for security policies. Once you’re aware of the measures you need to take, you can focus on going above and beyond.

As an example, a standard might recommend one encryption protocol. You can choose to use stronger encryption, thereby enhancing security and compliance.

By doing so, you can keep your client data even safer.

Cloud Compliance Eliminates Known Vulnerabilities

Compliance doesn’t stop with recommending minimum security measures. When enacted properly, it also helps you and cloud hosting services reduce risks.

That’s because most policies include standards for vulnerability audits and patching. When the cloud service you use is compliant, security is constantly being improved.

Cloud providers may perform audits on a regular basis. Updates and patches can help to keep hackers out of the system. In turn, your data stays even safer.

Automatic updates are one of the benefits of working with a managed IT provider San Jose. The right provider can help you look after not just the cloud but all your IT operations as well.

Compliance Creates an Audit Trail

Auditing is sometimes seen as a tedious task, but it helps create a trail. You’ll have reports from various audits. These can help you discover when and if there was a potential data breach.

If you have this information, you can take measures to limit the repercussions of this. For example, you might email your clients to let them know account data may have been compromised. You can then tell them to update their login credentials.

If you can catch potential breaches soon enough, you can invalidate the data hackers may have made off with.

The audit trail can also point to changes to your data, such as unauthorized deletions. In turn, you can keep a better eye on what’s going on with your data.

Introduce Quality Control Measures with Compliance

Compliance policies also allow cloud computing services to introduce quality control measures.

Once again, the policies and guidelines outlined in laws and standards set the floor for quality. With this in place, it’s easier to measure whether data integrity is being upheld within the cloud.

It’s difficult to measure success if you don’t have a measuring stick. The policies used in compliance standards create the measuring stick.

From there, companies can create their own internal policies to enhance data integrity. For example, a compliance standard may outline steps to take for the destruction of data in the cloud.

You may want to go a few steps beyond and create your own policy. You can then track how your team carries out data destruction tasks.

The same is true of any data handling task. With a managed IT service provider, San Jose businesses can keep an even closer eye on data lineage. That can help you ensure data integrity, in addition to holding team members to higher standards of quality.

Cloud Compliance Promotes a Culture of Integrity

The introduction of quality control measures also helps create a culture of integrity around the cloud. Both you and your service provider had responsibilities to ensure data is safe in the cloud.

Compliance encourages both parties to uphold these standards. It also allows you to hold people accountable for their actions.

Once your team has been trained on the proper way to handle data in the cloud, you can use your quality control measures to track how everyone is doing. You can reward team members who go above and beyond, and you can offer those who are struggling with more support.

By holding team members accountable, you can ensure everyone works together for improved security.

Find the Right SLAs and Configurations

Policies and guidelines may also steer you toward different cloud set-ups and even different providers. An industry-standard may offer guidelines on how to configure cloud security settings.

From there, you and your cloud services provider can work to meet and exceed these minimums.

There may even be indications in certain policies about the terms of your service-level agreement (SLA). Certain industries may need access to higher-level reporting or more frequent auditing. You may need to make sure you’ll have access to your data or that it will be destroyed if you decide to end your contract.

Not every provider will give you access to all the data you need to fulfill these standards. As a result, you’ll need to choose a different provider with better SLA terms. That can improve data integrity and help you keep your clients’ information safer.

The Right Cloud Provider Helps You Manage Compliance

The policies and guidelines set out by law can help you establish the bare minimum you need to keep client data safe. They can also help you when it comes to choosing the right cloud services provider.

Knowing the best practices laid out in guidelines and your legal responsibilities, you can look for a provider that goes the extra mile. This provider will help you not only achieve compliance but exceed it too.

Go Beyond Compliance in San Jose

Cloud compliance is essential for businesses all across the country. If you’re in San Jose, you can go the extra mile by teaming up with a managed IT service provider.

With their expertise, you’ll be able to keep your clients’ data under wraps. Ready to get started? Get in touch now and discover just how much simpler cloud compliance can be.

Sagacent Technologies offers technology management and support, including proactive/preventative maintenance, onsite and offsite data back-ups, network and security audits, mobility solutions, disaster planning and emergency business resumption services. The company serves clients of 10 to 150 employees within the Silicon Valley region.