Don’t let your judgement be clouded when making decisions about data security

As businesses around the world continue to adopt a “cloud-first” IT strategy, we can’t be far away from a point where local storage solutions seem as anachronistic as fax machines or dot-matrix printers.

That’s hardly surprising - the cloud-based Software as a Service (SaaS) model offers a lot of advantages for Customer Relationship Management. They’re off-the-shelf, rapidly deployed and can be affordable. But there are pitfalls.

Most cloud solutions are available only in proprietary, multi-tenant, shared infrastructure, single cloud configurations. There’s little or no opportunity for companies to decide where they want their applications and data to reside. Public? Private? Within your own country’s borders? On-premise? A hybrid combination? Often, the only choice is the vendor’s proprietary cloud.

What are the considerations when it comes to the Cloud?

Security concerns, regulatory requirements and enterprise integration strategies should be carefully considered before you get locked into a lengthy contract.

Integration is a big issue. We’ve spoken with a number of CIOs recently who’ve said that one part of their business has bought a SaaS solution. A while later, they need to integrate that data with the rest of their business but they don’t have any flexibility - it’s effectively locked up in proprietary siloes. It’s going to be a huge issue.

Companies that do customer experience well must have all of their data sources integrated – it’s that simple.

Which way are businesses turning?

Increasingly, according to Gartner, sophisticated multinationals with high integration and security needs are turning away from the public cloud to private cloud and on-premise solutions.

A large financial company recently told us: “There is no way we are putting our customer data in a public cloud environment where we lose control.”

Not only is there a fear within some organisations of losing control but some industries like financial services or healthcare must comply with strict data regulations. Due to this, an “out of the box” cloud CRM offering just won’t cut it.

Earlier this year the Bank of Queensland, Australia, was forced to write off a $10 million investment in a three-year trial of a CRM solution after the system did not meet the operational and regulatory requirements set by the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority.

Beware security breaches

Many countries have strict rules governing the collection and storage of customer data. Germany requires that data about German users must be stored within the country's borders. Recent US court rulings suggest a similar localisation there.  

There are data security concerns too. Imagine investing in the best security tools, the most sophisticated authentication protocols, and still being at the mercy of the cloud vendor’s security mechanisms? Not a comfortable feeling.

Factor in high profile data breaches such as Anthem Insurance, AT&T, even Ashley Madison, and everyone starts to think about the risks: compromised reputation, lost business, fines.

Making it cost efficient for your business

Then there’s cost. An electronics multinational we worked with reviewed the public cloud CRM solutions available and found that moving large volumes of data across multiple public cloud vendors was just too costly. For global enterprises, the size and complexity of their customer data is challenging to manage in the public cloud.

Of course, businesses should have the freedom to choose the systems and architectures that are right for them based on considerations such as data integration, compliance and, most crucially of all, security.

The cloud offers myriad benefits but it should not force you into taking risks that threaten the customer relationships on which your business is founded.