It goes without saying that cloud computing is here to stay. Besides lifestyle and entertainment apps, many work-related apps today are hosted on the cloud, especially as organisations began to embrace remote working at the start of the Covid-19 pandemic.
The relentless shift in cloud computing is expected to continue in Asia Pacific (Apac) this year, with the rise of hybrid work.
“As Covid-19 transitions into endemic, many businesses are likely to adopt a hybrid model, where most of the employees will be working from the office as well as remotely during parts of the week. Because of this model, businesses will continue to invest in cloud technologies that enable their employees to collaborate remotely,” says Parvinder Walia, president of Asia Pacific and Japan at Internet security company ESET.
Arthur Fernandez, chief growth officer at JCurve, a digital and technology consulting company, echoes this sentiment. He says: “From video conferencing to cloud-based workflow automation tools and cloud employee engagement platforms, cloud has pervaded every aspect of technology and the way we function.
“With cloud technology continuing to accelerate, businesses must endeavour to equip employees with productivity tools that will allow them to work from home properly. This will allow for more family time, which will ultimately serve as an important employee retention tool for organisations.”
Becoming more agile with hybrid/ multi-cloud
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Besides supporting hybrid working, cloud platforms will also be increasingly used by Apac organisations to gain business agility and resilience in 2022.
Cloud-based, data-driven platforms [will enable] organisations to predict possible scenarios and forecast for the future, giving them the competitive edge to remain agile and re-pivot where needed.Karen Clarke, managing director for Asia Pacific at Anaplan, a business planning software firm
To further improve their business agility, more organisations will shift towards an all-inclusive approach centred on enterprise-wide cloud migration instead of simply deploying cloud to tackle specific issues, predicts Remus Lim, regional vice president for Asean and India at enterprise data cloud provider Cloudera. This is perhaps why the Cloudera Enterprise Data Maturity Report found that the large majority of organisations are looking to house their data and performance analytics on hybrid and/ or multi-cloud architectures.
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“Hybrid cloud adoption will continue to pick up in the years ahead, especially with the growing emphasis on leveraging data,” says Lim.
He continues: “With the hybrid data cloud, organisations can access and analyse data fast and with ease to make smarter, data-driven decisions to effectively meet the demands of today’s hyper-competitive business climate. Accessing and managing data from multiple sources and locations will give organisations the control and flexibility of utilising a hybrid workforce whilst still being able to run the business as usual.”
A data strategy for the cloud?
The strategic objective for moving to the cloud is usually to drive more insights from data. After all, the cloud is essentially a delivery model, and data is the strategic asset for organisations.
However, adopting hybrid or multi-cloud can create data management issues. Case in point: Security concerns and integrating data across different cloud environments were the top two challenges organisations in Apac faced when they embraced multi-cloud, according to the Fourth Annual Enterprise Cloud Index by cloud software and hyperconverged infrastructure solutions provider Nutanix.
Lim therefore urges Apac organisations to have an effective data strategy as they embrace hybrid or multi-cloud this year. They should also ensure their cloud service delivers integrated, multi-function analytics on centrally managed and secured business data, deployed anywhere and with a consistent experience, in hybrid and multi-cloud.
An enterprise data cloud such as the Cloudera Data Platform can help organisations gain those capabilities.
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An enterprise data cloud enables organisations to aggregate, access, and analyse their data in a secure and governed manner at one place, offering users a comprehensive platform for cloud data management and experiences they require and want to use.Remus Lim, regional vice president for Asean and India at Cloudera
"[As such,] organisations can unlock the power of data to serve customers better, operate with greater efficiency and resilience, and strengthen security — [all of which are] critical capabilities in today’s world,” he adds.
Leading with a security-first mindset
Although the cloud is an enabler, it also provides many new attack vectors, which is why Walia highlights the importance of embracing a security-first mindset.
One way of doing so is to adopt Zero Trust, a model that builds on the premise of “never trust, always verify”. “For instance, logging into a cloud application should require multi-factor authentication as it assumes that the login credentials may have already been compromised,” explains Walia.
He adds: “It is equally important to perform vendor risk management to understand the potential risks when they are using third-party products or services. Storing customers’ databases on a cloud-based customer relationship management platform, for example, means that the data is accessible remotely via the Internet, which may be a risk.”
Besides that, Apac organisations should also seek help from experts, such as managed service providers (MSPs) and security operation centres, to strengthen their cybersecurity posture. Such experts can help businesses close the gaps that exist in their cybersecurity controls and skills, as well as free their IT teams for other tasks.
“[In 2022, Apac organisations] need to refocus on business operations and leverage the effective model of MSPs in order to stay in step with the latest technologies to secure their business from cyber attacks, [which are growing in volume and becoming more sophisticated],” says Bob Petrocelli, chief technology officer at Datto, a cybersecurity and data backup firm.
As agility is now the key to long-term business success, organisations in the region will increasingly leverage cloud-based platforms and apps this year to be more data-driven and adaptable. But as technology is a double-edged sword, they should also address issues, like data silos and cybersecurity concerns, to minimise the chances of introducing risks as they head towards a cloud-based future.
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