In the past, companies typically centralized data and locked it safely away in an impenetrable vault. But hoarding data doesn’t allow you to extract value from it and this can add up to financial costs and missed opportunities. 

Data only has true value when it’s available to be leveraged.

The Cloud is a dream for expanding companies, it allows them to click a button and have access to virtual machines that allow users to copy data and put it away—regardless of where you are located. 

It removes the need for your company to have hardware and the need for people who understand hardware. 

But you do need a team to make sure your data is accessible and stays in place. 

Most companies have a solid cloud data management strategy and that begins with five important considerations:

Date Storage – Data often sits in storage. It’s often behind firewalls and other layers of security, which it should be, but it’s also vital to ensure that your stored data is encrypted. Properly encrypted means anyone stealing it will end up with lines of garbled junk that they can’t decipher. 

Accessing data – Your employees need to do their jobs and should be able to access data whenever and wherever they want, but access must be controlled. Create tailored access rights and controls that restrict unnecessary access.

Data in Transit – Create a secure, authenticated, and encrypted tunnel between the authenticated user and device and the data they’re requesting. Never compromise security. Make sure data remains encrypted in transit, so no interceptor can read it. 

Arriving Data – When the data arrives at its destination, make certain that it is authentic and hasn’t been tampered with. 

Backup and Recovery of Data Today, most companies recognize the importance of proper backup hygiene and have implemented backup and recovery processes. Be sure to actually test and validate your ability to restore the backups and recovery periodically.

These five pillars will bear the load of your company data and withstand the forces. Make sure you can quickly recover from the most common issues that come from operating in cloud environments.