Is Private Cloud as Secure as On-Prem?

Fair or not, the cloud has a reputation for being less secure than traditional on-prem solutions. While a public cloud provides flexibility and cost-efficiency, questions constantly arise about security, compliance, control, longevity, and long-term retention of data. The implication is that on-premise solutions are inherently safer. But recent incidents have highlighted that private cloud environments can deliver the value and provide the security of on-premise solutions.

For example, back in June a major cyberattack rocked companies around the world. The attack spread to Ukrainian government agencies, global shipping companies, pharmaceutical giants, aircraft manufacturers, banks, and more. It caused major disruption for many businesses.

However, one of the targets has business applications hosted in a community-based private cloud environment provided by Exostar. Exostar’s secure collaboration solutions were not compromised during the attack, and remained fully functional. This helped the organization with business continuity and internal communication while other systems were down.

Some people may find this surprising; the fact that the cloud-based applications remained intact doesn’t really fit with the conventional wisdom that the cloud is less secure than on-premise solutions. The truth is that on-premise solutions have their own inherent risks which could result in significant disruptions.

A private cloud provides a higher level of security and data control than a public cloud, but with all the benefits of speed and affordability that on-prem solutions lack. The benefits of a secure private cloud include:

• Dedicated hardware
• Flexibility of server resources
• Better resource management
• Faster disaster recovery
• Cost and time savings due to virtualization
• Less vulnerability to cyberattacks

Widespread cyberattacks are increasing in frequency and intensity. Organizations must look to solutions to keep their data secure without compromising business functionality but also improve business performance. Community-based private clouds are a wise choice to combine flexibility and value with security. In the event of an emergency or an attack, the ROI will speak for itself.

For highly-regulated industries like Life Sciences or Aerospace & Defense, Exostar provides a private cloud environment that keeps business running. Contact us today for more information.