Data privacy, risk management, and cybersecurity remain key priorities for businesses in 2023 to ensure continuous high performance and to catapult to new heights. In a recent , 43% of survey respondents said that they plan to upgrade IT and data security to reduce corporate risks. That includes security and data protection measures to keep their data safe. This becomes even more important when moving to and operating in a cloud enterprise resource planning (ERP) environment to drive continuous innovation. In the same CIO survey, 12% of the respondents said that they are planning to accelerate the move to the cloud as a service.

Adopt a Zero Trust Security Approach for the Cloud

To secure data and operations in a hybrid work environment, companies have been adopting a zero trust approach. defines zero trust as an “information security model that denies access to applications and data by default. Threat prevention is achieved by only granting access to networks and workloads utilizing policy, informed by continuous, contextual, risk-based verification across users and their associated devices.�

According to 2022 global survey data published by , 39% of companies have already begun to roll out a zero trust solution and 41% of companies have plans to adopt a zero trust strategy and are in the early phases of doing so.

My principle in life is to trust people and systems until I am provided a reason not to. The zero trust principle is the exact opposite of this.

The zero trust approach has three key principles: all entities and users are untrusted by default until authorized, the least privilege access is enforced, and extensive security monitoring is in place. In short, no connections to corporate networks and systems should be trusted at sight. All users, devices, and systems need to be authenticated, reverified, and continuously monitored when accessing networks, systems, and data.

Adopting this approach to cloud transformation has become the leading industry standard to keep operations and data safe across the entire virtual and physical network infrastructure.

Here are some best practices for putting an enterprise security plan in place that utilizes zero trust concepts to run operations safely and securely in the cloud.

Define Clear Security Roles and Responsibilities

First and foremost, ensuring security is always a shared responsibility between companies and their cloud transformation partners. It is a common goal and commitment that is independent of the type of cloud path companies take.

Like with any shared responsibility, the best way to approach it is by defining the roles and responsibilities up front. This process starts by asking these key questions: who is managing the cloud, how will everyone work together to secure the cloud, who is responsible for which part, and where are dependencies?

This will ensure that there is a clear strategy and plan to monitor and implement security policies and measures.

Keep an Eye on Users, Devices, Network, Applications, and Monitoring

Based on our experience at Â鶹ԭ´´ Enterprise Cloud Services, another best practice is to focus the zero trust security approach on five pillars: users, devices, networks, applications, and monitoring.

Eighty-seven percent of organizations consider the application layer as being the front door for data breaches. Most data breaches through cyberattacks happen because users fail to keep their credentials safe or fall prey to false identities. In addition, the number of remote users with their own devices has significantly increased in enterprise networks as well as the number of cloud-based assets that are not located within an enterprise-owned network boundary.

By regulating and monitoring user access to devices, networks, and applications, companies can protect all their resources, including assets, services, workflows, and network accounts. For example, identity management systems can manage privileged user authentication and access at a very granular level. This includes keeping administrative accounts separate from corporate accounts and applying encryption to several layers in the IT environment. Data classification makes it possible to associate the security levels with specific types of data, regardless of where that data resides – in the cloud, at endpoints, or in owned data centers.

Scaling Security Needs Faster with the Cloud

While managing the complexity of security needs for cloud transformations can be daunting, here is an added merit: companies can scale their security needs much faster in the cloud, according to research. Benefits include better automation capabilities as well as higher storage and data capacity in the cloud. Companies can push infrastructure as code and fix a security problem in real time when operating in the cloud. Automation also helps in increasing the maturity of identity management and security management systems. recommends embracing cybersecurity as a differentiator to promote greater stakeholder trust and better use of cloud-native solutions that take advantage of the cloud’s full potential.

In other words, you can shine like a diamond on your cloud platform of choice with a zero trust security approach for the cloud.

For more information, visit the site and read this chief security officer for Â鶹ԭ´´ Enterprise Cloud Services.

Peter Pluim is president of Â鶹ԭ´´ Enterprise Cloud Services and Â鶹ԭ´´ Sovereign Cloud Services.

At the same time, moving to the cloud has become more accessible. Companies can find the based on their existing IT infrastructure as well as data residency requirements. Our customers, for example, can use our Â鶹ԭ´´ data centers, hyperscalers, or their own data centers to host a cloud enterprise resource planning (ERP) environment.

Operating in a cloud ERP environment is a critical step in an organization’s digital business transformation to become an intelligent, sustainable enterprise. This step is also the springboard to continuous innovation. And this continuous innovation is enabled by the cloud, more specifically by cloud application services.

In a nutshell, cloud application services can be defined as value-added services that simplify the end-to-end management of cloud systems by delivering application operations and innovation adoption.

We designed to support all types of Â鶹ԭ´´ cloud deployment models with Â鶹ԭ´´ application management services, Â鶹ԭ´´ managed data services, Â鶹ԭ´´ managed security services, and Â鶹ԭ´´ managed testing services. Each of these four services help drive continuous improvement and quality assurance for cloud solutions with a focus on business outcomes.

Let’s take a look at managed testing services as an example.

Innovating without Compromising Business Continuity

Most global businesses have highly complex and integrated landscapes. They want access to the latest technologies to improve operations and engagements with customers. This could include using AI-based chatbots for customer service, adding mobile payment methods, or having the ability to track their carbon footprint across the entire supply chain. But they also have concerns that introducing these new innovations may cause disruption of existing business operations. Thus, maintaining business continuity at a high quality is paramount when introducing innovations.

That’s where Â鶹ԭ´´ managed testing services come in. The beauty of the services is that they can improve IT systems and operations in the cloud without compromising business continuity with repeatable and seamless processes for solution adoption, testing, and quality control.

can prevent disruption and help stabilize critical business processes across releases and other test events. Software quality is tested consistently, accurately, and efficiently with automated testing tools and services that use industry-specific test cases. Higher value services, such as data management, release management, advanced monitoring, and innovation adoption, help stabilize application operations. We offer support for all cloud deployment models with a central focus on flexible and simplified service consumption, which is central to the innovation mindset of our organization.

In brief, the services can provide the quality assurance and stable foundation that companies need to confidently drive innovation with integration and upgrades to the latest technologies. Having that peace of mind is critical to developing a cloud-first mindset across the entire organization for continuous innovation.

Peter Pluim is president of Â鶹ԭ´´ Enterprise Cloud Services and Â鶹ԭ´´ Sovereign Cloud Delivery & Operations at Â鶹ԭ´´.