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Posted on August 7th, 2012 in Cloud Computing, Cloud Security by Simply Security | Be the first to comment | Tags: cloud computing, Cloud Security

Recovery capabilities are among today's top data protection priorities.

In today's highly mobile and digital business world, employees have the ability to access mission-critical applications and information from virtually anywhere on any device at any time. The emergence of cloud computing and other web-based tools is enhancing these capabilities and, as a result, is changing how decision-makers prioritize their security strategies.

According to a new survey of North American IT professionals conducted by TechValidate and commissioned by Quest Software, approximately 73 percent of respondents rank recovering sensitive information and solutions as the No. 1 data protection concern. Despite these new priorities, however, only 5 percent of survey participants said they develop recovery strategies around applications. Another 78 percent said applications play no part in the restoration process.

"As this survey shows, there's a significant gap that exists between what organizations consider their top data protection priority – restoring critical applications – and the backup programs they actually put into place, most of which still require administrators to set recovery objectives based on data and servers, with little focus on the application's recovery time and service-level agreement (SLA)," Quest Software senior executive Greg Davoll said.

Contributing to this problem may be the traditional "one-size-fits-all" approach that many cloud computing vendors take when creating an SLA. Many providers develop a standard SLA for all organizations, regardless of their size, industry compliance requirements and other unique attributes.

A recent study by the University of London, however, suggested that many businesses are beginning to demand company-specific SLAs in the face of data security adversity.

"To remain competitive, providers may have to be more aware of user concerns, more flexible in negotiations and more willing to demonstrate the security and robustness of their services," project lead academic professor Christopher Millard said.

Quest Software noted that approximately 32 percent of IT executives have been approached by company management to reduce recovery times when leveraging innovative technologies. By negotiating contract terms with cloud service providers, organizations may be able to enhance their virtual environment's flexibility and get guarantees in regard to minimal downtime. As a result, businesses will have a more robust application and data protection and recovery program, giving them a potential competitive advantage over rival firms that have neglected to take technological initiatives in their own hands.

Data Security News from SimplySecurity.com by Trend Micro