The Benefits of Cloud-Based Security Solutions for Today’s Enterprise
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In the past, an organization only had the option to deploy physical appliances to meet its security requirements. However, this is rapidly changing. Security vendors are increasingly making their products available as virtual machines (VMs) or as a Software as a Service (SaaS) offering.

For many of an organization's security needs, cloud-based solutions make perfect sense. For example, web applications located in the cloud should logically be protected by a cloud-based web application firewall (WAF). Transitioning to cloud-based security also provides several additional advantages to an organization.

Advantages of Cloud-Based Security

The cloud is a very different environment from the on-premises deployments to which many organizations and their security teams are accustomed. In the cloud, an organization gives up the full control of their environment and underlying architecture that they enjoy in an on-premises deployment. This lack of complete control and understanding of cloud environments has generated concerns regarding the migration of security to the cloud.

However, cloud-based security solutions also offer significant advantages to an organization. Among these are the reduced costs associated with operating cloud-based security deployments (including both capital and operational expenditures), the geographic flexibility associated with the cloud, and the benefits that cloud-based environments provide for business continuity.

  • Reduced Capital Expenditure

Capital expenditures (CapEx) can be a significant concern for security teams with limited budgets. The need to strategically plan and budget for equipment purchases and upgrades can leave an organization open to attack while it waits for budget to become available.

A cloud-based security solution, offered under the SaaS model, does not require an organization to purchase, deploy, monitor, and maintain a physical appliance. This can allow organizations to deploy security solutions more rapidly and enables easy upgrades since exceeding the maximum capacity of a given appliance does not force the purchase of a replacement or additional system.

  • Reduced Operational Expenditure

CapEx is not the only cost associated with cybersecurity solutions. Organizations also incur operational expenditures (OpEx) when operating and maintaining their cybersecurity solutions.

A switch to cloud-based security enables an organization to decrease the OpEx associated with their security solutions. A SaaS solution has no physical hardware that must be maintained, powered, and otherwise managed by an organization's on-site staff. This enables an organization to reap continued savings compared to a physical appliance.

Additionally, the solution flexibility provided by a SaaS solution can allow an organization to tailor their security to meet their current business needs, without the need to consider investing for the future or worry about needing to acquire additional appliances if needs change. Cloud-based security solutions can often be expanded or contracted to meet the needs of the business with a much lower cost than a physical appliance.

  • Geographic Flexibility

Over time, organizations are increasingly transitioning their data storage and processing to cloud-based environments. In fact, 94% of businesses use the cloud. At the same time, the evolution of business (and unforeseen circumstances such as COVID-19) have resulted in employees increasingly working from home or remotely while traveling.

With endpoints in the cloud and users operating off of an organization's network, routing all traffic through an organization's on-premises security architecture for scanning is not ideal. This is especially true for latency-sensitive cloud-based applications. With cloud-based security, an organization's cloud-based applications are secured by solutions that are co-located with them. This helps to minimize the impacts of latency and ensures that an organization does not lose visibility into traffic that is not routed through its on-site security deployment.

  • Business Continuity

As the COVID-19 pandemic has demonstrated, unforeseen circumstances can have a significant impact on an organization's ability to operate. Pandemics or flooding may make it impossible for a business to operate on-site, meaning that on-site security solutions cannot be properly maintained. Alternatively, a power or network outage could cut off connectivity to the on-site datacenter, impacting operations.

Transitioning data storage and processing to the cloud is already part of many organizations' business continuity strategies. Cloud platforms have built-in redundancy to ensure that an outage at one site does not impact operations. Additionally, a large cloud service provider is more likely to be deemed "essential" during a crisis like COVID-19.

Moving security to the cloud is a logical choice for business continuity for these same reasons. In the event of a natural disaster or other business-disrupting event, an organization using the cloud for security will not be forced to make the choice between allowing operational systems to run without security or completely shutting down business until the main site, with its on-site security deployment, becomes available again.

Transitioning to Cloud-Based Security

Many organizations are accustomed to a fully on-site security deployment because, in the past, this approach was effective. When the majority of an organization's systems and sensitive data were connected to and stored on the internal company network, deploying security solutions at the point of connection between this network and the public Internet made perfect sense.

However, most business networks no longer look like this. Increased adoption of cloud computing and mobile devices means that a growing percentage of an organization's endpoints are operating outside the traditional network perimeter. As a result, attempting to force all traffic through a perimeter-based security deployment no longer makes sense.

As an organization's operations move to the cloud, so should its security. Cloud-based security offers a number of benefits to an organization, including reduced cost, better network performance (due to reduced latency), and a higher level of resiliency in the face of business-disrupting events.

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