With deepening digital penetration in customer avenues, enterprises are on a constant quest to acquire new technical capabilities as quickly as possible. Going into a cloud-first approach for their applications has proven to be the most successful workaround to rapidly accelerate digital transformation efforts. In 2025, Gartner estimates that 95% of all new digital workloads will be deployed via cloud.
On one side, benefits of the cloud like unlimited scale, architecture flexibility, cost efficiency, etc. are tempting leaders to migrate all their on-premises digital assets to either a cloud infrastructure or replace them with SaaS applications altogether. However, on the other side, there are still apprehensions surrounding the migration exercise. The primary area of concern is the security of critical digital assets like sensitive customer data and credentials.
With over two decades of existence, cloud applications have certainly come a long way forward in their security characteristics when compared to the start. But for CIOs of today, there are still some loose ends that need to be tied before going in for a fully-fledged cloud migration approach.
Lack of impact awareness is the primary challenge
Every business has unique operational models and customer experience requirements. These mandate their digital infrastructure to work in a myriad of different ways and the scenario is no different when they migrate to the cloud. When it comes to security concerns, the real problem that decision-makers face is not necessarily the scare around the cloud as a concept, but it is rather the impact that cloud migration has on their overall enterprise security measures. It is crucial to understand how cloud migration affects the security characteristics of different business functions, assets, people, and processes. Businesses must take steps to ensure that their security measures are modified in tune with new operational behavior realized through cloud migration.
The key impact of cloud migration on security
Let us have a closer look at five areas where enterprise security encounters a changed perspective with cloud migration:
- Ownership of Assets
From databases, application licenses, toolkits, and other digital elements, a range of enterprise assets are transferred into a cloud environment during migration. They could now be residing in a public, private, or hybrid cloud environment provided by the SaaS vendor. While making this migration, enterprises need to evaluate the criticality of each asset before moving it to a respective cloud ecosystem. Highly critical assets could be managed more securely with a private cloud. There should be clear SLAs with the cloud vendor on who owns what resources are needed for the enterprise’s digital landscape to operate smoothly.
- Data in Transit
As enterprises shift from their on-premises software to cloud-based applications and infrastructure, there will be truckloads of data set in motion within this migration environment. It is not just enough to secure the origin and destination of data flows; enterprises need to secure data in transit as well. The communication funnels and data pipelines established for smooth migration may be potential attack points for threat agents. This happens even after the migration of communication lines established between cloud digital services where data exchange is frequent. Usage of controls, encryption measures, and real-time proactive threat monitoring should be in force for all enterprise data assets not just in storage but also in transit across systems.
- API Operations
With cloud migration comes a series of API-driven experiences for almost all digital applications. APIs will be the key communication link through which different services interoperate and ensure user requirements are met in due course. However, they are often considered to be a highly vulnerable spot for threat agents to attack. Enterprises need to ensure that they have a more comprehensive API management measure in place that helps in establishing access control, configurations, usage rights, encryption, etc. at the API level. Over time most API services in the cloud are likely to be automated and the tools and protocols established for securing APIs should consider the same to ensure sustainable growth without risks.
- Compliance
With the rapid progress of the digital economy, nations worldwide have increased pressure on businesses to safeguard citizen interests, especially their sensitive data. This has resulted in a wave of compliance and regulatory oversight requirements for every digital asset. When migrating to the cloud, enterprises should have a clear and transparent understanding of how the required compliance mandates will be honored and what additional steps they need to take to enforce continued compliance. This would require constant verification and validation of operational standards of the cloud vendors involved, auditing of security firewalls used while handling sensitive data, and much more.
- Identity and Access Management
Implementing traditional IAM policies and controls in a cloud environment could be a tad less effective because of the diverse ownership models in play. The cloud vendor may provide their own IAM infrastructure that can serve as an additional layer on top of the enterprise IAM layer already built. There should be a clear and transparent consensus about who has the ultimate authority to override permissions. Certainly, a singular solution will not fit the needs of all businesses. Instead, enterprises need custom IAM frameworks that can interoperate seamlessly with internal IAM controls, the unique controls and policies configured in the cloud environment, third-party holistic IAM controls, and much more.
Cloud migration is undoubtedly one of the most inevitable digital transformation approaches that any business, irrespective of size, will likely undertake. The concept itself is a great way to ensure competitive and sustainable growth. Mitigating risks during cloud migration is where enterprise leaders need to have strategic priorities and guidance. This is where an experienced partner like Wissen can be a game changer. Get in touch with us to know more.
