It all seemed so simple:  float your organisation’s data up to the Cloud where, as if by magic, your increasing mountains of information in digital form would be managed efficiently, easily available, and at lower cost, even though you may not know exactly where they are.

Yet, just as there are ten types of meteorological clouds, fleeting in their ability to cross borders, companies and others have come to realise that there are many Cloud solutions. And each of them can have serious consequences on the security, accessibility, and-- yes-- even on the real costs of data management.

“Taking advantage of what the Cloud has to offer, and avoiding its pitfalls, is really all about preparing for a journey and being careful to manage it as you go along,” says Olivier Kermagoret, Critical IT Outsourcing Director at Thales. “Moving to the Cloud is a decisive moment for any organisation. We at Thales apply our own experience in managing data on the Cloud to make sure that our clients get it right—from start to finish. It’s something we have been doing for our customers for more than ten years.”

The value of your information impacts which Cloud you choose

Olivier Kermagoret explains that the shift by users from their own management of data Cloud data management by others raises the stakes in how they protect their most confidential data.

The choice of where to store information is directly linked to its worth. Some data needs more protection than other information. The vital question is how to make optimal use of the Cloud while keeping customer data secure and remaining independent with regard to the choice of Cloud services supplier. Customers need full and complete control of data access, integrity, and availability.

One of the increasingly important issues deals with ‘sovereignty’:  “The question of sovereignty over confidential data has become an essential factor in the choice of Cloud solutions because some countries claim the right to have access to all data stored within national borders,” says Olivier Kermagoret.

Thales can guide clients on these questions because of its own experience in managing data in critical environments.

“Our vision isn’t rigid or theoretical. We offer pragmatic approaches, based on four criteria which each organisation needs to evaluate based on its goals and acceptable risks. That includes a clear measurement of the benefits of the particular Cloud-based business model, the functionality offered by the Cloud provider and their application to “real life” use cases, the sovereignty of the data concerned, and the degree of reliance on a provider who often becomes a de facto partner.”

Taking all of these into account can often lead to a ‘hybrid’ solution which mixes private and public Cloud. That is, deciding where to place and manage effectively and efficiently the different sets of critical and less-sensitive data.

To counsel its clients in this field, Thales combines its decade of Cloud experience with its leading expertise in the digital technologies that includes security products (encryption, identities management, Key management, …) and services. .

“We’re an impartial, expert guide that enables organisations to get the Cloud right at a time of continuing technological and regulatory change,” says Thales’s Director for Critical IT Outsourcing, “There’s too much at stake to get it wrong.”