Monday, December 28, 2015

Cloud Use and Having an Exit Strategy


Cloud service uses, methods and liability considerations are involved in an appropriately devised exit strategy for any enterprise.  This could be in the form of a backup method for establishing redundancy.  For many businesses, the cloud use transitioning process is key for being able to maintain reliable services.  Minimizing disruptions, goes without saying, is and should be a major concern for any enterprise to reduce its liability exposure.
Identifying the entities service points or relationships, whether they are internal to the organization or external, is likely the initial step to devising an exit plan for purposes of activating an alternative system.  Assessing the cloud service used as either IaaS, PaaS, or SaaS is needed in this step as well.  Each will require different activation steps and process for an exit strategy, keeping in mind that the replacement for either one of the three is not the same application and may raise different regulatory considerations.   Understanding its own cloud service methods and delivery system and its result, along with knowing its legal contractual terms is intrinsically pivotal for any enterprise transitioning their cloud business process.
 Also, the regulatory requirements must also be attended to in order for an enterprise to devise a transitioning plan for its cloud service, especially when the service is uniquely designed for its industry or service class.  A company that uses SaaS may experience that its replacement during a transition cannot be operative with an IaaS, though they may appear similar technologically.  The process is key to note for considering the compliance requirements and the service delivery method that is required, in order to reduce unintended consequences of the service adaptation.
 Moreover, the cloud service exit strategy and its implemented transitioning process should inherently have security as its heightened goal.  During any transitioning service period exiting a cloud service there will be the inevitable migration of data where confidentiality is critical.  Having the ability of continuing secure reliable service delivery must be considered including applying encryption and data retention.  The fear of the unknowns should always trigger careful assessment of the list of transitioning technical, legal, and regulatory compliance considerations to ensure limited disruption of the service that is provided to customers and the general public and that also relies on the featured services that are delivered by the cloud service provider or its ultimate service replacement.  While this may not be an exhaustive note on cloud service exit plan, that plan must also weigh the obvious availability options for alternative cloud replacements, way before there is ever the need for a transitioning strategy to be put in place.

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