The Security of the Cloud

HighJump Software really took a leap of faith when we invested into attaining the ability to offer our solution in the cloud.  It was an innovative initiative that new business opportunities as well as existing customers continue to thank us for by opting for our cloud deployment.

Here at HighJump, we take for granted that this is still a novel and innovative concept.  To date we offer the only suite of solutions that are considered to be tier 1 available in the cloud.  The cloud is quite mainstream for us and sometimes we assume that it is as mainstream for all but that is just not the case.  I reminded of this by the occasional cloud skeptic that I encounter that argues that the cloud is a security risk.

To these remaining skeptics I often offer the insight that as a company that specializes in this 3rd party hosting a higher level of competency in security can be attained. Techland reported on some research of security issues that some companies had when maintaining their own applications last June.  The results do not bode well for the traditional on-premise approach.  90% of the respondents reported a security breach with the financial consequences of such exceeding $500,000 41% of the time.

As always, when I discuss our cloud solutions I like to remind everyone that they are available on premise as well.  They are the same solutions.  The only difference is the location of the servers.  So, with all else being equal, you need to ask yourself how secure your own network is.

If it is safe then the best option for you may be traditional on-premise deployment.  If you have concerns than you should take a serious look at the cloud.