Organizations have to take precautions to maintain the security of their cloud infrastructures. Cloud environments have become prime targets for hackers and cybercriminals. As more companies move workloads to the cloud, the value of their data cloud-based data resources increases.

Following are five security vulnerabilities that can expose an organization’s cloud environment to cyberattacks. Addressing these vulnerabilities effectively will improve your cloud security posture and better protect your valuable data resources. 

Lack of visibility into cloud resources 

A necessary first step in addressing cloud security is to understand the extent of your cloud environment. It’s very easy for cloud sprawl to set in and for an organization to lose track of its cloud services. In some cases, deliberate actions by employees result in shadow IT where cloud products and services are used without a company’s knowledge or approval. Companies should enforce a policy of immediately removing cloud instances when they are no longer in use. Effective security measures cannot be put in place without complete visibility into your cloud resources. 

Poor identity and credential management

Compromised credentials are increasingly being used by cybercriminals to gain access to cloud resources. An access request can come in from any location using a wide variety of devices. The proliferation of the mobile workforce has made it even more important to verify identities before allowing access to enterprise cloud systems. Users need to protect credentials and organizations need to implement comprehensive monitoring to identify potential intrusions or privilege abuses that can lead to data breaches.

Misconfigured cloud resources

Misconfigured resources can present vulnerabilities that can be taken advantage of by cybercriminals. A simple misconfigured parameter can expose a system to malicious behavior. The same scalability that is a selling point for cloud computing can potentially allow misconfigurations to proliferate through the environment. Vulnerable systems can be inadvertently replicated to scale systems and greatly increase the attack surface. Companies without experience in cloud configurations should consider working with a knowledgeable partner to assist in implementing effective security. 

Vulnerable software supply chains

Companies are making more extensive use of third-party software components when developing applications. Each element of a software supply chain offers a potential entry point for cybercriminals. Organizations need to be careful about using third-party solutions that are not officially supported. Periodic reviews should be conducted to eliminate third-party tools that are not being used to reduce the attack surface. 

Unsecured cloud storage

Cloud storage is an easily accessible and limitlessly scalable resource that enables organizations to store data so it can be used efficiently from any location. Unfortunately, this accessibility can be leveraged by cybercriminals to exfiltrate sensitive and high-value data resources. Data can be stolen or misused because of misconfigured security, malicious insiders, or compromised credentials. All sensitive data elements should be encrypted to guard against unintentional disclosure. Zero-trust security can be implemented to reduce the risk of insider threats and employee education can help minimize unauthorized access. 

These are a few of the security issues companies face in a cloud computing environment. Granular visibility is essential for keeping cloud resources secure. Organizations should consider performing discovery and assessment of their environment to obtain a complete view of their resources. Armed with that information, they can develop a more effective plan to secure their cloud infrastructure. 

Cloud computing is affecting the way many businesses and individuals interact with data on a daily basis. A generic example can be seen in how companies and employees are using the cloud to facilitate the creation of a mobile workforce. The cloud offers the universal data access and security necessary to promote remote work in all fields.

 Healthcare is an industry that touches us all at some point. Just as the cloud has introduced innovative methods of doing business, it is also enabling improvements in how healthcare is delivered. The impacts of the cloud on healthcare affect all areas of the industry. Following are some of the most impactful ways the cloud is influencing healthcare delivery. 

Supporting digital transformation

Healthcare facilities and medical practitioners of all sizes are transitioning to digital record keeping with electronic health records (EHRs). Cloud-based solutions provide small practices that may have limited IT resources the same access to technology as large healthcare organizations. Using the cloud levels the playing field for healthcare providers of any size. 

Enhancing collaboration

The availability of patient records in the cloud enables them to be easily shared by remotely located healthcare professionals and specialists. This information sharing fosters collaboration that can result in improved patient care through better diagnosis and access to alternative treatment options. The ability to confer with remote specialists can be especially important in rural areas that previously had limited access leading to inferior patient care and outcomes. 

Promoting advanced analytics

The cloud provides healthcare organizations with access to advanced analytics capabilities that would be hard to replicate in most on-premises data centers. The scalability and flexibility of cloud computing make it an excellent platform for processing and uncovering hidden trends in big data resources. The insights gained from analyzing this data can lead to new treatment options and help address emerging health issues before they spiral out of control.  

Improving the patient experience

The use of cloud computing has enabled the creation of patient portals that streamline many aspects of healthcare delivery. Patients can use their mobile devices to schedule appointments and access healthcare records. They can easily renew prescriptions to ensure they never run out of vital medications.  

Cloud-based communication techniques are making it possible for patients to engage in virtual doctor visits in many instances. Virtual consultations save time and money while providing many of the benefits of an in-person doctor’s visit. While not appropriate for all situations, virtual visits can often be used to offer patients more efficient healthcare. 

Reduced downtime

Cloud infrastructures are designed to be resilient and reduce unexpected downtime. This can be a critical factor in healthcare delivery where the inability to access records or information can be the difference between life and death. Cloud-based healthcare minimizes the chance that an outage will affect patient care. In the event of a disaster, cloud services can be brought up in alternate locations to lessen the impact on patients and providers.  

These are just a few of the ways cloud computing is impacting healthcare delivery. The efficient use of cloud-based technology promises to continue to improve the way patients and healthcare professionals use information to improve society’s health and wellness. 

eBPF, short for "extended Berkeley Packet Filter," is a relatively new Linux kernel technology that has been gaining traction in cloud computing. It allows for efficient, safe, and flexible execution of user-defined programs within the Linux kernel. This has numerous benefits for cloud computing, including improved networking performance, greater security, and increased flexibility in the management of cloud environments.

How eBPF works

eBPF-based programs are event-driven and are attached to the code path. This path has triggers known as hooks, whose role is to execute any attached eBPF program when passed. Some key examples of hooks include networks, kernel tracepoints, function entries and system calls. It was initially used to improve observability and security during filtering network packets. This has, however, changed, becoming a way of making the implementation of user-supplied code safe, convenient and better performing.

Advantages of eBPF

1. Ability to improve networking performance

One of the key advantages of eBPF is its ability to improve networking performance. Traditional packet filtering techniques, such as those used by the Berkeley Packet Filter (BPF), can be slow and CPU-intensive. eBPF, on the other hand, allows for much more efficient packet filtering by executing user-defined programs directly within the Linux kernel. This means that eBPF-based packet filtering can be much faster and require less CPU power than traditional methods.

2. Improved security

In addition to improved performance, eBPF also offers greater security for cloud environments. Because eBPF programs are executed directly within the Linux kernel, they have access to a limited set of kernel resources and functions. This makes it much harder for malicious code to compromise the kernel or gain access to sensitive data. Additionally, eBPF programs are verified by the kernel before they are allowed to run, which helps to prevent the execution of malicious or otherwise unsafe code.

3. Flexibility

Another important benefit of eBPF is its flexibility. With eBPF, users can write their own programs to perform various tasks within the Linux kernel. This allows for much greater customization and control over the behaviour of a cloud environment, making it possible to optimize performance, security, and other aspects of the system to meet specific needs.

4. Programmability

eBPF provides a rich environment which allows new layers to be added. Moreover, data can be stored between eBPF events instead of dumping it like other tracers usually do since the code is directly run in the kernel.

Disadvantages

Although eBPF is not a solution to everything or any project, it has some disadvantages that can frustrate working with it. These disadvantages include the following:

1. It is restricted to Linux and a recent kernel

eBPF was developed for the Linux kernel and is oriented around it. That affects portability compared to other tracers. As such, you need a recent kernel because anything older than v4.13 will not be able to use it.

2. Sandbox programs are limited

eBPF gets its increased security by limiting the resources that programs can access. However, through limitations, there are parts that the operating system a program can access. Functionality is also limited.

This technology improves observability, networking and security in the Linux kernel. This makes it useful in distributed environments such as the cloud. Through monitoring from the kernel layer, many cloud challenges are solved. It also provides deeper visibility and data accuracy.

In conclusion, eBPF is an important technology in cloud computing. Its ability to improve networking performance, enhance security, and provide greater flexibility makes it an essential tool for optimizing its cloud environment. As eBPF continues gaining popularity, it will likely become an increasingly important part of the cloud computing landscape.

Cloud cryptography involves the encryption of data stored or used in a cloud service. Through encryption, data transmitted in plaintext is protected by being transformed into a random string of characters called ciphertext. The encryption is performed using secure keys that are necessary to decrypt the data into human-readable form. While the information is encrypted, it is kept secure from access by unauthorized users or cybercriminals. 

 The concept of encryption has been around for quite a while and has traditionally been performed on servers in an on-premises data center. Organizations had complete control over these resources and could determine when data needed to be encrypted and when it was safe to leave it in plaintext. 

The security of data in the cloud is not fully controlled by the customer. Security is a shared responsibility as defined in this chart from AWS. A look at the matrix indicates that the cloud service provider (CSP) is responsible for the security of the cloud, including storage. Customers are tasked with securing their data. But that data needs to be transmitted to the cloud and will eventually reside on a CSP’s storage devices. 

How Does Cloud Cryptography Work? 

The objective of cloud cryptography is to secure data when it is stored in the cloud and as it moves to and from cloud applications. This requires cooperation between a customer and their CSP to address the three phases in which data exists. To ensure security, data needs to be encrypted when at rest, in use, and in motion.  

Encryption techniques can be classified into two main categories: 

Symmetric encryption - This method uses the same key for encrypting and decrypting data. It is the faster but less secure encryption option.

Asymmetric encryption - Two keys are used in this method, a public and a private key. Asymmetric encryption is more secure but can be slower than symmetric encryption.  

Many companies only encrypt the subset of their data which requires a greater level of security due to the processing-intensive nature of encryption. Encrypting and decrypting data takes time and processing cycles which may impact application performance. Organizations need to take this factor into account when designing applications that rely on high performance. 

It’s All About the Keys! 

Keys are at the heart of cloud cryptography. They are the passwords without which it is impossible to encrypt and decrypt data. Key management is an essential part of maintaining the security of encrypted data. Several factors need to be considered and addressed to ensure data remains secure. 

• A method of generating strong keys needs to be implemented to eliminate the risk of using weak passwords that can easily be compromised.
• Customers need to clarify who will be responsible for key management and storage procedures. In most cases, the CSP can assume that role, but regulatory compliance may require the customer to handle these tasks.
• Lost keys can make encrypted data useless by making it impossible to decrypt.
• Mismanaged keys can allow malicious entities to access encrypted data. 

The bottom line is that organizations should be encrypting sensitive data in the cloud. They need to focus on key management to ensure the data stays safe and accessible. Failure to take advantage of cloud cryptography needlessly puts a company’s data at risk.

As more and more organizations move their operations to the cloud, it is important to consider the security implications of this transition. While cloud computing can offer significant benefits in terms of cost, scalability, and flexibility, it is essential to follow best practices to ensure the security of your data and systems. This article will explore some key considerations for cloud security and provide tips for keeping your organization's data safe in the cloud.

1. Choose the right cloud service provider

Among the first steps in ensuring cloud security is looking for a reputable and trustworthy cloud service provider. Look for providers that have a track record of providing secure and reliable services and that are compliant with industry standards such as SOC 2 and PCI DSS. It is also a good idea to review the provider's security policies and procedures to ensure they align with your organization's security needs.

2. Secure access to the cloud

Once you have selected a cloud service provider, it is important to ensure that access to the cloud is secure. This includes implementing strong authentication methods such as multi-factor authentication and regularly updating passwords. It is also a good idea to use secure protocols such as SSL/TLS for data transmission and to enable encryption for data at rest.

3. Manage user access privileges

Effective access management is key to ensuring the security of your cloud environment. It is important to carefully control who has access to your cloud resources and to assign access privileges on a least privilege basis. This means giving users only the access they need to perform their job duties rather than granting them blanket access to all resources. It's also a good idea to regularly review access privileges to ensure they are still appropriate.

4. Monitor privileged users

In addition to managing access privileges, it is important to monitor the activity of privileged users, such as administrators, to ensure that they are not misusing their access. This can include implementing tools to monitor and log user activity, as well as conducting regular audits to identify any potential issues.

5. Encrypt your data

Encrypting data is an important security measure to protect against unauthorized access to sensitive information. It is a good idea to encrypt both data in transit and data at rest in your cloud environment. This can include implementing encryption for data stored in the cloud as well as for data transmitted between the cloud and other systems.

6. Protect user endpoints

User endpoints, such as laptops and smartphones, can be vulnerable to attacks, so it is important to implement measures to protect them. This can include installing antivirus software and keeping it up to date, implementing strong passwords and enabling two-factor authentication. It is also a good idea to educate employees about best practices for protecting their devices and having a process for responding to security incidents.

7. Educate your employees

Your employees are a key line of defence against security threats, so it is important to educate them about best practices for protecting your organization's data. This can include training on topics such as strong passwords, phishing attacks, and secure browsing habits. It is also a good idea to establish policies and procedures for employees to follow in the event of a security incident.

8. Maintain logs and monitor

Maintaining logs and monitoring your cloud environment can help you identify and respond to potential security issues in a timely manner. This can include implementing tools to monitor suspicious activity and regularly reviewing logs to identify any potential issues.

In a nutshell, cloud security is an important consideration for any organization that is moving operations to the cloud. By following best practices such as choosing a reputable cloud service provider, securing access, managing user access privileges, monitoring privileged users, encrypting data, protecting user endpoints, educating employees, and maintaining logs as well as performing regular monitoring, you will get the best off the cloud and improve operations.

Moving your storage from on-premise to the cloud can be a challenging undertaking. It involves many demanding activities, from choosing a provider that meets your requirements to finding the best migration options and the right backend architecture. All these can feel overwhelming, mainly if you do not have the right help. However, with the right planning and research, it does not have to be painful. Rather, you can take it as a learning process, whether you are migrating from one provider to another or getting started. The best thing is to follow the right steps and processes. Here are three decision-making processes that might be helpful in your cloud migration journey.

1. Consider your goals

Ask yourself why you want to move from on-premise or one cloud to another. What are your long and short-term goals for migrating? Are you building a complex application? What are your future growth plans? As you answer these questions, document what you need to achieve these goals. Highlight things that are essential for a provider to have and other considerations that are important to you. Consider things like storage, bandwidth and other additional requirements such as data security necessary for your business. Think of what you might need in future and ensure you consult your provider every step of the way.  

You will understand your cloud requirements by outlining what you need for your operations and the demands associated with your goals. Furthermore, you will be able to understand the differences between providers. Compare offerings, SLAs and services in greater detail.

2. Consider resources

Human and other resources are crucial for your migration to the cloud. Ask yourself if you have the right team, adequate financial resources and infrastructure to support your migration. Furthermore, ask yourself how much time you want to spend managing the infrastructure and whether the cloud service provider has the right options and resources for teams of any size or experience. Consider the complexity of pricing models. These models can be complex. If you are concerned with the cost, find a provider with simple, affordable and predictable pricing. This ensures you do not get a surprise bill, especially at the beginning of your journey.

Keep your long-term and short-term goals in mind as you start the configuration process. This will help you know what you need and the future configurations. Furthermore, knowing your available finances allows you to choose what must be in the cloud and what should not.

3. Join a community

Successful migration to the cloud should not be the end of everything. Rather, it is just the beginning of engagement with others using cloud platforms. The right place to ensure you are engaged is by joining a community. There is a huge developer community that is not only inclusive but also supportive. Joining such a community will answer most of your questions because others have encountered the concerns, worries and questions you may be having. You will meet individuals from all over the world and collaborate with them in sharing knowledge and other projects.

As you join the cloud computing world, become part of different communities. Furthermore, make use of resources such as online tutorials offered by developers meant to enhance your experience with the cloud. Select a cloud computing provider with an excellent support team and one that can answer your questions faster. Select a provider who goes the extra mile to ensure you are satisfied whenever you ask a question or when you are concerned. Being part of events such as seminars and conferences is also good for your journey in adopting cloud computing because it enhances your knowledge.

Being an IT manager means that you must stay on top of the game at all times. It means that you know what is going on and anticipate the needs of your end users, in addition to solving issues before they arise. With this, users can perform better, and the business can flourish. One of the things you must be aware of as an IT manager is cloud computing. In recent years, there have been growing talks on cloud computing and what it can do. With businesses going digital, perhaps now is the right time to better understand this technology. The entry of the cloud has immensely increased the growth of businesses and their efficiency. As we move into a new era technologically, there are questions regarding how the cloud will change the business landscape. Here are some cloud computing trends for the new decade:

1. Companies will deploy more workloads to the cloud

According to Gartner, businesses will deploy 95% of their new digital workloads on cloud-native platforms by the middle of the decade. By doing this, they will embrace technology more and more, move their organizations forward, and commit to modernizing them for the long term. However, this means that they have to know the information needed so that they can reap benefits. Organizations must constantly update their workloads to match the changes as the cloud continues to evolve fast. 

2. Multicloud and Hybrid

There is a growing number of solutions that offer agility, customizability and non-compromizability in the market starting in 2022. With the past cloud services, you could only choose between private and public solutions. Cloud solutions offered accessibility and pay-as-you-go services, while the private cloud, on the other hand, offered more security for data storage. With the availability of hybrid solutions such as Microsoft Azure, you can keep certain types of data on public servers. The data you can keep on public servers include the ones customers need to access often. You can also store sensitive data on private servers to control and monitor it as you deem fit. 

3. Artificial intelligence

As Artificial intelligence continues gaining fame, consumers expect new software platforms to incorporate it. Therefore, 2022 going forward, will see an increase in the number of technologies to meet customer demand. Cloud computing must adapt to deliver the said services to the consumers. According to Verified Market Research, the market value for AI will be over 850 billion by 2028. AI platforms will require more processing power and bandwidth to support this. This is where cloud computing will come in to help AI projects succeed. 

4. Serverless cloud technology

Every IT manager dreams about streamlining workload and ensuring efficiency. Serverless cloud technology may be the thing you need to achieve this. With this technology, you can automate some tasks you consider tedious. This helps you maintain your server infrastructure in the best possible way. Between 2022 and 2026, there will be a high demand for serverless technologies, according to research by Motor Intelligence. The research indicates that serverless computing will rise by 22.6% between 2022 and 2026. With this, users do not need to invest in resources and capital. 

5. Cloud Security

Implementing the cloud in an organization is one of the most powerful steps you can ever take. However, all is not well until you consider the security of your data and systems. You must first consider ways of mitigating risk and implementing data security procedures to prevent bad actors from causing havoc. As cloud computing takes over the information landscape, developers will increasingly work on projects that improve cloud security. There will be a possible increase in the adoption of Secure Access Software Edge (SASE). Gartner reports that at least 40% of companies will create commitments to include SASE in their toolkit. 

If you work in an IT department or an executive position in an organization, you have probably heard of how enterprises are investing in cloud computing and taking their computer systems and applications to the cloud. As an organization, if you want to transition from on-premises infrastructure to a multi-cloud, hybrid cloud or both of them, you should know that this is the single most significant shift that your company will face.

Whether you are looking to migrate your applications or infrastructure to the cloud or shut down the on-premises data center, here are a few practices you should abide by. 

1. Make a cloud-first commitment

All applications should be moved to the cloud unless there is a compelling reason to remain on-premises. This is what cloud-first commitment means. However, there can be compelling reasons like cost, security or governance challenges and concerns that may force you to keep some applications in a data center within your organization. Ensure that public and private cloud integrates easily. Regardless of the circumstances, prioritize a cloud-first strategy so that you can reap maximum benefits of the cloud.  

2. Understand your cloud economics

Understanding the economic side of the cloud may appear simple. However, most organizations do not take the time to understand the needs of their businesses and what it takes financially to move to the cloud. By building a business case, your organization will gain valuable insights to enable you to understand cloud economics. Understand aspects like current costs, and the cost of the entire package. Other costs like hardware, networking, disaster recovery, downtime, upgrades and service level agreements should also be understood.

3. Decide the cloud services to use

Given the many cloud services available, businesses must identify the ones that suit them and the ones they plan to deploy. This will reduce the chances of running more services than necessary or than can be managed appropriately. Furthermore, it may result in failing to determine the right way which cloud services are best fitted to the workloads. The right services may vary from one workload and business to another. Businesses must generally consider factors like the cost of each type of cloud service, how hard or easy it is to deploy workloads on a cloud service, how a service can be managed and monitored, or the security risks that a particular service can create.

4. Understand what should not be migrated to the cloud

Businesses should know that certain workloads may be better if left out of the cloud migration plans. For instance, applications that depend on local networking configurations can be difficult to replicate in the cloud. Other applications may need direct access to the hardware, which can be difficult to achieve or can be costly to be done in the cloud. Identification of these apps should be made early in the cloud transition. Develop steps for modification of those applications to suit the cloud or commit to keeping those apps out of the cloud.

5. Find out security risks

Migrating to the cloud is not free of security challenges. Therefore, before migrating your data, applications and infrastructure, ensure you know that the cloud can be a source of various concerns. Because of the connection of the cloud to the internet by default, it can be easy for attackers to locate and exploit weaknesses in cloud resources. The complexity of the cloud and possible misconfigurations that emerge from it, like allowing public access to sensitive storage, can have unprecedented implications concerning security. Therefore, you must assess how to mitigate the identified security risks as part of the cloud transition plan.

According to Security Magazine, cryptojackers are on the rise in the cloud.

As cloud computing has become more pervasive, so have cryptomining attacks. The evolution of IT infrastructure has led to an increase in attack surface, creating the perfect environment for cryptojackers to strike

Read the article Security Magazine

There are ways to keep your cloud data from ROT-ing, reports Forbes.

What’s the first image that comes to mind when you hear the word “rot”? For me, it’s a squishy, shriveled tomato—its once bright red skin overtaken by contrasting brown decay and greenish-white mold. Not a pretty picture, is it?

Read the article Forbes

According to C4ISRNET, the U.S. Army will invest hundreds of millions of dollars in getting to the cloud first among the US Armed forces. 

The U.S. Army plans to invest hundreds of millions of dollars in cloud migration and uptake in the next year or so, amid a push by the military’s largest service to be digital-first and access data anytime, anywhere.

Read the article C4ISRNET

Despite economic downturn cloud spending is still robust, reports Forbes

As IT budgets inevitably tighten during a downturn, many startups will need to prove their relevance—and value—as must-haves. But despite the macro concerns we’ve all been living through, one promising sign is that overall growth in cloud spending is still robust.

Read the article Forbes

Ransomware has been a major cybersecurity threat to traditional IT environments for years. Until recently, cloud resources were not frequently attacked by this particular kind of malicious software. In large part, this was due to the challenges of attacking a cloud infrastructure.

This apparent safety may be changing and organizations now need to guard their cloud environments from ransomware attacks. As more companies migrate workloads and sensitive data to the cloud, cybercriminals are increasingly seeing cloud resources as a viable target for ransomware. 

How Cloud Ransomware Works 

Criminals are primarily using three methods to perpetrate ransomware attacks on cloud services. Each method has a similar capacity for damage if executed successfully. 

• Infecting file-sharing services and applications - Companies often use file-sharing services synced to a cloud service to facilitate data access for mobile employees. A ransomware attack will begin by encrypting data on a local machine that is then synced to the cloud. The infected file then spreads the malware throughout the cloud infrastructure affecting a large number of files. 

• Phishing attacks - Cybercriminals use phishing techniques to trick users into divulging credentials for cloud-based email services like Microsoft 365. The victim’s emails are then encrypted and held for ransom. 

• Targeting cloud vendors - In an attempt to maximize the value of a successful attack, ransomware gangs are directly targeting cloud vendors rather than their customers. Criminals try to compromise the credentials of a vendor’s employee so they can encrypt infrastructure that affects multiple clients. The hope is that some of the clients will pay the ransom to avoid the major disruptions caused by the attack.  

Defenses Against Cloud Ransomware 

Some of the defenses against cloud ransomware are identical to the measures required to protect against traditional attacks. Others are tailored to the aspects of the cloud that make it vulnerable to ransomware.  

• Employee education is one of the most important initiatives an organization can undertake to protect itself from ransomware. Users need to be trained to identify and not fall victim to phishing emails. They also need to understand the importance of using strong passwords and not sharing credentials to avoid misuse by malicious insiders.  

• Keep all software and firmware updated. Attackers take advantage of known vulnerabilities when attempting a ransomware attack. Updates often contain fixes for vulnerabilities that offer greater protection for the cloud environment.  

• Develop comprehensive backup and business continuity plans. A viable strategy is to back up systems using multiple techniques which may include making both cloud and local copies of your data. If one set is compromised, you can still recover your systems. 

• Use blacklists to keep employees away from websites that are known to host malware or other malicious software. Consider installing anti-phishing tools that help identify advanced threats.  

The shared responsibility matrix for cloud security provides multiple targets for ransomware attacks. Criminals can attack a company’s data directly or by impacting the cloud provider’s infrastructure. Devote the necessary resources to train all employees and minimize the chances of a successful attack on your data resources. 

The big cloud providers all want your business and are constantly rolling out new offerings designed to attract and retain customers. In this article, we are going to look at some of the flagship products and services available from the largest public cloud vendors ranked by revenue in mid-2021 as determined by Statista. 

Microsoft Azure

Azure is the leading cloud vendor based on revenue and offers a wide variety of products and services addressing the needs of small, medium, and large businesses. The company has capitalized on the installed Windows operating system customer base and prioritizes integration with legacy systems.  

The combination of legacy support and cutting-edge tech logic make Azure a viable choice for enterprises migrating workloads to the cloud or operating hybrid environments. Cloud-managed instances of the popular SQL Server relational database provide just one example of the specific solutions available from Azure.

Amazon Web Services (AWS)

Amazon may lack the enterprise relationship onramp enjoyed by Azure but makes up for it with its constant innovation and quality of its products and services. Some of its distinctive offerings include its analytics and data lakes, machine learning, and extensive storage options for everything from disaster recovery to long-term archiving.  

Amazon offers free trials of many solutions such as Amazon Lightsail, used to launch and manage virtual private servers, Amazon EC2, providing virtual cloud servers, and SageMaker, to build and train machine learning models. AWS is also the only major cloud provider to offer macOS virtual server support. 

IBM Cloud

The offerings of the IBM cloud are tailored to meet the needs of the company’s large and medium-sized enterprise clients. IBM concentrates on PaaS and IaaS solutions. Acquiring Red Hat in 2019 demonstrates a commitment to an open and hybrid approach to cloud infrastructure. 

IBM’s cloud offers extensive analytics, artificial intelligence, and machine learning solutions that make use of the company’s Watson supercomputer.  As hybrid environments continue to propagate throughout the IT world, IBM’s migration and management tools provide customers with a viable path when moving from on-premises data centers to the cloud.   

Salesforce

Some readers may be surprised at Salesforce’s inclusion in the top cloud vendors, but the company’s array of SaaS solutions is impressive. From its beginnings as primarily a customer relationship management (CRM) solution, Salesforce has expanded its offerings to encompass many cloud-based enterprise software solutions.  

Its Slack-first Customer 360 combines sales, service, marketing, commerce, IT, and analytics solutions to provide small and large businesses with an innovative way to work while employing digital workflows. Salesforce concentrates on SaaS offerings and is not the right cloud vendor if you are looking for cloud storage or infrastructure solutions.  

Google Cloud Platform

Google’s cloud strategy strongly supports cloud-native solutions based on open source and open systems. This makes it attractive to companies looking to add specific capabilities to multi-cloud environments. Google offers machine learning support with vision, speech, and natural language APIs. Google’s advanced technical capabilities make it a viable choice for solutions in the field of data analytics, AI, and machine learning. 

This is just a sampling of the incredible diversity of cloud offerings available to customers in 2021. Virtually any organization can find a solution that helps them meet their business objectives. It’s just a matter of selecting the right cloud.

According to the Register, Microsoft testified to a House Committee that it receives numerous secrecy orders per day.

The US House Committee on the Judiciary met on Wednesday to hear testimony on the government's practice of secretly subpoenaing cloud service providers, and Microsoft was happy to oblige.

Read the article on The Register

Organizations that choose to take advantage of public cloud services often find themselves with their resources spread amongst multiple vendors. This situation can arise for several reasons including:

• The evolution of enterprise workloads and the search for the most cost-effective solutions;
• Sprawl resulting from the ease with which departments can migrate systems;
• New offerings not available from current vendors;
• Simply being dissatisfied with a service or vendor and riding out the length of the contract.

Regardless of the underlying factors that led to a multi-vendor cloud environment, its management presents decision-makers and technical support staff with additional layers of complexity. Adopting a set of best practices will help organizations successfully implement a hybrid and multi-vendor computing environment. 

The following best practices will assist in the successful management of a multi-cloud environment.

• Use hybrid cloud management tools - Make use of hybrid cloud management tools to address multi-cloud environments. These tools can provide features such as self-service functionality for end users, service aggregation, deployment orchestration, and cost management. 

• Optimize costs across vendors - Companies should regularly review the comparative costs of their various vendors and be willing to migrate if a move is dictated by the economics. Cloud service brokers may be able to evaluate resources and suggest ways to optimize spending. 

• Focus on disaster recovery and reliability - Recovering a diverse multi-cloud environment in a disaster scenario demands a well-planned and documented strategy. Leveraging cloud vendors may be possible by backing up resources from one to the other. 

• Prioritize security and compliance - Ensuring data security and compliance is more challenging in multi-cloud implementations. Identity and access management (IAM) tools are necessary to ensure only authorized users can get to data resources. Customer and vendor roles regarding maintaining regulatory requirements need to be fully understood to avoid gaps and failed audits.  

Concentrating on these four areas will help organizations manage their multi-cloud environments.  

Using the Right Tools Matters

Commercial and open source software tools are available to assist in the management of multi-cloud environments. These applications focus on big picture items that affect the entire cloud infrastructure and help decision-makers identify the right solution from among the alternatives and keep the complex environment running smoothly. 

Morpheus is a commercial product providing integration and automation functionality across multiple clouds and on-premises environments. It is designed to facilitate compliance, cost optimization, and application modernization.  

OpenStack is an open source solution that offers a set of software components providing common services for cloud infrastructures. It enables large pools of cloud resources to be managed centrally through dashboards or APIs. 

On a more granular scale, dedicated tools can help minimize the strain on technical support teams when systems are spread across multiple on-premises and cloud platforms. A case in point is an application like Idera’s SQL Diagnostic Manager for SQL Server. It employs a unified interface from which to monitor SQL Server performance on physical and virtual machines located on-premises or housed with major cloud vendors. 

The potential benefits of multi-cloud environments can outweigh the challenges of dealing with their complexity. Following some basic best practices and deploying the right tools will enable organizations to take advantage of the offerings of multiple cloud vendors without incurring any undue risks.