Intelligent Tech Channels Issue 56 | Page 38

What is good cloud migration security ?

Cloud adoption continues to be important for many organisations as they transform how they do business in today ’ s digital world . US-based Jonathan Nguyen-Duy , Vice President , Global Field CISO , Fortinet , tells us while there are many benefits associated with cloud adoption , the security implications of moving to the cloud cannot be ignored if organisations are to fully embrace it .

wWhat is cloud migration ? Cloud migration is the process of transferring an organisation ’ s data and apps from on-premises servers to a cloud infrastructure . A cloud infrastructure enables organisations to access data storage requirements and computing capabilities when they are needed . Rather than creating on-premises IT infrastructures or leasing data-centre space , organisations can rent cloud infrastructure and their required computing capabilities via third-party providers . This can mean cost savings to an organisation ’ s operating budget due to lower spending on energy bills , IT personnel , hardware , servers and software that are needed for a physical data centre .

Other key benefits of cloud migration are agility and flexibility . Cloud infrastructures are highly agile and flexible because they are self-managed and allow users to spin up new services and make changes in a matter of minutes . This permits organisations to be more focused on business and bottom-line issues rather than being bogged down in IT matters .
Cloud platform and infrastructure works through an abstraction process , such as virtualisation . The goal is to separate resources from the physical hardware they
Jonathan Nguyen-Duy , Vice President , Global Field CISO , Fortinet are typically installed on and put them into the cloud . These virtual resources are provisioned into cloud environments using tools like automation and management software , enabling users to access the resources when they need them from wherever they are working .
Three types of cloud architecture
When we talk about cloud infrastructure , we ’ re referring to the tools that are used to build a cloud environment . When we talk about cloud architecture , we ’ re referring to the design or blueprint of specifically how the various technologies for creating a cloud computing environment will be connected . There are three types of cloud architecture :
• Public
• Private
• Hybrid
Public cloud architecture uses thirdparty cloud providers to make cloud resources available to multiple customers via the Internet . These providers operate multi-tenant environments that lower the cost of data storage and computing power for customers . Public clouds can have a drawback : privacy issues for organisations that handle sensitive data or personally identifiable information ( PII ).
In a private cloud architecture approach , cloud infrastructure is only accessed by the organisation . The private cloud architecture
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