How to Manage Cloud Compliance & Risk
Compliance. The regulations are always changing so how do you stay on top of things when you have a dozen other responsibilities? Wouldn’t it be nice to have someone who could fully manage your ongoing cloud compliance needs, so you wouldn’t have to?
Whether you’re storing information internally or in the cloud, you should consider the importance of maintaining a solid security practice. When you think of cloud services, you might think that security is handled by the cloud provider because they use terms like ‘secure’ and ‘compliant’ to highlight their ability to protect your information. While most take this responsibility very seriously and adhere to strict security policies to do just that, you might not be as fully covered as you think.
When you consider ‘regulatory compliance’, you may think of Sarbanes-Oxley (SOX), Dodd-Frank, HIPAA and other acts or laws. While checking the fine print of many cloud-based service offerings, you’ll probably find verbiage stating their services are ‘fully compliant’ to these and many other regulations.
If the cloud service provider states they are compliant and your organization uses their services, are you compliant too? Well, you might be, but probably not fully. As you review more of the fine print, you’ll find that it’s a team effort between your organization and the cloud service provider to achieve and remain in the coveted ‘compliant’ status. Maintaining compliance is an ongoing process and requires continual review and governance of the policies and controls you’ve put in place, as well as reporting on the adherence to those controls and policies.
So, where do you start? At the most basic level, you need to understand what regulations your company or institution must adhere to. Knowing your compliance requirements will provide a path to the controls and policies you must implement. From there, it can be broken down into four primary steps:
- Review IT :: Assess your current cloud service security & compliance policies
- Lock IT Down :: Implement controls and additional policies to meet regulatory compliance requirements
- Report IT :: Generate Audit and Compliance Reports
- Review IT :: Back to number 1
Since many cloud-based services provide an enormous number of configurations and controls to help you maintain compliance, you may need some expert advice on the steps above to achieve your compliance goals.
IT Resource can provide the help you need to achieve compliance in the cloud, regardless of your industry or size. With our Managed Cloud Compliance & Risk service, our team of professionals can fully manage your ongoing cloud compliance needs so you don’t have to. After all, a policy is only effective if it is enforced and you are only compliant if you can prove IT.
IT Resource is helping customers evaluate and monitor their IT compliance risks. We are a Grand Rapids IT provider, serving clients from Kalamazoo to Traverse City, northern Indiana, and throughout the midwest.
