Day after day we are accosted with articles in the media about data breaches or the security issues that come with using the public cloud. The answer is really simple. Join the on-prem movement and get control of your data!
As safe as on-premise file sharing is, some people still seem to be drawn to the cloud for even their most sensitive data. Stop it people! You’re risking your data! I’m here to tell you that keeping your files on-premise is not only safer, but just as easy as using the cloud. So let’s take a look of some of the reasons you should keep your files on-premise.
- Data Privacy & Security- Storing data off-premises, even if it is encrypted, exposes your data to unwanted users like government investigators, law enforcement agencies, lawyers, hackers, even file sharing vendor personnel. Yikes! And, when accessing off-premise data through CDN, WebDAV or other web protocols, that data is not encrypted and may be co-mingled with the data of other companies. Additionally, once data is on those third-party servers, it often stays there – deleting it from a user account does not delete it from the storage. Like we tell teenagers, don’t post anything online you don’t want to haunt you year down the road, because once it’s out there there’s no taking it back. Well, the same is true for your data when it is stored off-premises.
- Regulatory Compliance- In many instances, physically storing data from one country on servers located in another country is against the law. And now with the Safe Harbor Ruling, this makes it especially true for global companies. With Federated Cloud Sharing multinational organizations are able to connect individual ownCloud deployments from around the world. Admins can control their local, on-premise ownCloud deployment and benefit from the security and flexibility it provides, yet Federated Cloud Sharing meets data sovereignty requirements. This allows users to connect to files stored on their local ownCloud servers as well as those located in different countries. There are also legal statutes in some regulated industries that require data to be secured at all times and reliance on external security providers is a compliance violation. Or, it’s just that you assume the responsibility if you choose to work with a third-party. It is important to know where your sensitive information is being stored and how it is being accessed and by whom. While regulatory compliance can be guaranteed with on-premise data storage and governance, cloud-based alternatives introduce real and significant compliance risks. Just check the media.
- Vendor Lock-In- Vendors go out of business, are acquired by competitors, change their business strategies and raise their prices. If, for whatever reason, you decide to change your file sharing strategy, your ability to do so may be significantly hindered by vendor lock-in. You may be unable to make a change, even if your provider suffers security breaches, gaps in availability or aggressive pricing changes. So you’re trapped in the house with an intruder? Sounds like my worst nightmare! On the other hand, when you store your data on-premise, you remain in control. If you remember, back in August Seagate announced the discontinuation of their cloud file storage service, Wuala. Users were told to take their stuff and leave before all of their data was destroyed. That’s the trouble with the cloud, it’s out of your hands in those of someone you don’t know but are meant to trust to keep your data safe. When you keep your data on-premise, even if the company goes out of business your data is still left in your control, there’s no backing up files with the fear of losing them.
Have I convinced you yet? Well, these are just three of the reasons why you should keep your data on-prem. But really, there are so many more reasons in addition to these three. Want to learn more? Be sure to sign up for our upcoming webinar “6 Reasons to Choose On-Premise File Sync & Share; Building a Business Case” on October 28th at 11 am EDT. Our very own, Bob Boule, Senior Solutions Architect, will share with you the top six reasons why you should consider on-premise EFSS.
