Hybrid IT has arrived. We are living in a new business environment where mobile devices connect to both cloud computing and legacy IT infrastructure. When all are combined effectively, workloads can easily move between internal and external IT infrastructures, workers enjoy great productivity and the enterprise flourishes.
But a distributed workforce and a growing population of mobile devices and apps, present security concerns for today’s Chief Information Security Officers (CISOs).
A CASB (Cloud Access Security Model) model is is a software based security point for ensuring safety of cloud services. It is ideal to enable Hybrid IT. It allows access to numerous common cloud-based SaaS applications via mobile devices and cloud applications and corporate data parked in legacy databases and servers at their parent company. It is a value-added approach but like all technology models, asking the right questions is imperative to the success of any project.
Here’s seven vital considerations:
1.What skills are needed to maintain this model?
There are new apps, new IT silos, and perhaps several new ways of doing business. Is everyone ready and trained with the right skills and IT competencies to embrace them and work with a CASB model?
2. What about Scalability?
What will we face when it’s time to scale upward? As the enterprises continue to advance and scale, is the CASB model ready and able to scale with it?
3. How will we manage increasing operational complexity?
Everyday a new wave of technology arrives with new approaches that are required to compete in the market place. These often add to operational complexity so it’s important to understand how these unknown factors could be incorporated and anticipated with CASB?
4. What about extending existing services and apps?
Will Hybrid IT afford a seamless blend? Anticipate expected challenges and difficulties ahead of time in order to link services with devices and apps. Focus on swiftly making them available and integrate this with CASB.
5. What is our plan for compliance enforcement?
A dispersed workforce with multiple devices presents compliance risk. Will device compliance and enforcement be incorporated into your CASB model so that it does not fall wayward?
6. How much can we rely on CASB?
Will CASB’s proxy technology – sitting right smack dab in the data path, deliver the service we demand and require? How reliable is it and will it interfere at all with data access?
7. How will CASB affect the user experience?
Users want easy access to data – be it from the data centre or the cloud; they do not want to sign on several times and even get kicked out, only to have to start over. Will this happen? It shouldn’t. Insure transparency is part of initial planning, but ongoing plans as well.
CASB can be a very effective approach but these questions need to be on the table when partnering with a CASB solution provider. Re-tooling your network and providing users trusted seamless access to your data centre and the cloud is a wonderfully advanced strategy but taking the time upfront to answer important questions and stimulate discussion will ultimately deliver the true dividends and ROI that CASB can bring.
