Our Trusted Saskatoon IT professionals at Burnt Orange Solutions promise to have a one-hour response time for all your IT support needs. Honesty and respect are important to us. We pride themselves on ensuring our clients understand their IT concerns by providing a straightforward and reliable solution with exceptional service. In our latest IT Tip, owner Gareth continues his discussion of the cloud by considering an important question – is the cloud safe?

Is the Cloud Safe?

Many businesses fight against moving their computing to the cloud because of the belief that it is insecure and dangerous.

Is this fear well-founded?

No!

In many cases, cloud computing is a MORE secure way of accessing and storing data. Just because your server is on-site doesn’t make it more secure; in fact, most small to medium businesses can’t justify the cost of securing their network the way a cloud provider can. Even if your business can afford to host its own on-site server, this may not necessarily be a more secure option, due to factors I will discuss here.

The Real Culprit – Human Error

The fact is, most on-site networks are less secure than the cloud due to the potential for human error. In most companies, your employees won’t be security experts and might make mistakes such as downloading a virus, using weak passwords, or accidentally sending confidential information to someone who shouldn’t see it. Other security breaches occur in on-site networks because the company didn’t properly maintain its own in-house network with security updates, software patches, and up-to-date antivirus software. These breaches of on-site networks are FAR more common than a cloud provider getting hacked.

The Physical Isolation Principal

An often overlooked aspect of cloud storage that can offer security benefits is the fact that your data is stored on servers which are physically remote from your business. While this may seem unsettling to some, it actually offers protection to your data in case of an event at your business’s physical location, such as a fire or break-in. In the case of such an event, not having to worry about the safety of your data is a huge relief.

The Redundancy Principal

Redundancies are a smart way to protect your business from interruption when unexpected events occur. A major advantage of cloud storage is that a redundancy system can easily be set up – copies of your files can be kept in separate cloud servers. This is a major advantage over on-site storage systems where the compromise of the server could result in the total loss of critical files.

So – Is the Cloud Safe?

Based on the above, I would say YES! In many ways, cloud storage is more secure than on-site storage. If you utilize good practices such as creating backup copies of files, setting strong passwords, and only using reputable cloud services you can have confidence in the cloud.

If you are looking for secure cloud storage for your business, give the IT experts at Burnt Orange a call. Let us keep your files safe, so you can focus on running your business.

Burnt Orange IT Solutions Products & Services:

• Managed Networks
• Backup and Recovery
• Data and Network Security
• Hosted Services
• Telephone Systems
• Secure WiFi Networks

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Burnt Orange Solutions are Trusted Saskatoon IT Experts