SECURITY IS THE CLOUD’S SILVER LINING
Despite the rapid uptake of cloud hosting on a global scale, many South African companies are still unaware of the advantages of adopting this solution.
Based on Emid’s experience as a private/hybrid cloud host for the core banking platforms of many banking clients across South Africa, along with providing outsourced solutions to many other corporates, they have highlighted some of the most important factors to consider when partnering with an outsourced cloud hosting provider.
When considering cloud-based hosting systems, many people tend to overcomplicate the issue in their minds. To make things easier, we will outline the three main types of cloud hosting solutions:
Public cloud
Public cloud hosting offers scalability and self-service, while being made available to the general public. Examples of this include Amazon Web Services, icloud, and Google cloud platform.
Private cloud
Private cloud hosting offers similar benefits when compared to public cloud, the difference being that it is developed as a solution for a single organisation. This solution is also normally deployed at the client's location.
Hybrid cloud
Hybrid cloud hosting uses a combination of on-site and off-site private cloud services, and integrates this with third-party public cloud services. A hybrid cloud solution can provide better scalability and deployment options to clients.
The hosting of financial systems on the hybrid/private cloud is a viable and secure solution, so long as you choose the right ICT service provider. Security is a major concern for users when it comes to cloud-based hosting services. This concern is addressed through compliance with the POPI act, data localisation laws, and subscribing to bank-grade security levels.
Data centres located in South Africa localise the user data, reducing trust issues as the clients can directly interact with service providers. There is also compliance with local privacy laws, such as the POPI Act, rather than navigating international data laws.
Another great benefit of hybrid/private cloud hosting through certain providers, such as Emid, is that they adhere to strict security policies, guarding against the constant risk of information theft. Various offerings feature numerous enterprise-grade security strategies to safeguard your data. Emid goes one step further, offering an annual ISAE 3402 independent audit report in order to guarantee that international security standards are adhered to – something not many other vendors offer.
Hosting your business in the cloud can have many advantages over and above the security and protection of personal information. Using Emid’s data centre as an example, they have hardware, systems, and processes worth millions of Rands managed by expert staff and installed in an access-controlled, safeguarded, air conditioned facility with multiple backup locations across South Africa.
It would be impractical for a business to run that level of infrastructure themselves when they could have leading-edge technology readily available for a fraction of the cost, without the necessary specialist staff.
Emid’s hosting solution is unique in the sense that each solution is tailor-made using parameters laid out by their clients, rather than following the traditional, boilerplate cloud hosting models.
As a business, you'd be looking for a cloud-based hosting service provider that is trusted, secure, and disciplined the trick is in finding the right partner for you and your requirements. Emid’s record of accomplishment in the managed ICT sector speaks for itself. Their innovative technology ensures that they have incredible uptime records, as well as state-of-the-art security – this is what brings about the level of trust and satisfaction that all of their clients experience. ■