Healthcare and finance are at serious risk with their cloud adoption

New research shows a surge in cloud adoption, and while there are obvious benefits, some industries are more at risk than others.

A survey of 1,800 global respondents carried out by Blancco found evidence of “extensive” cloud adoption, however data management best practices show a particular weakness among many companies, including healthcare and finance.

The research found that a little over half (57%) of organizations have a schedule to review different data types in order to determine end-of-life (EOL), however this still leaves more than four in 10 companies with no form of review.

Risks of cloud adoption

The study also delved deeper into the methods applied for reviewing and found that over a quarter (28%) use the “blunt” approach of automatic expiration date setting. While this is certainly an effective way to ensure that all data is assessed, the blanket one-size-fits-all approach doesn’t suit the needs of different classes of data.

“Best practice that may have been in place in on-premises data centers can be left behind when organizations migrate their data to the cloud,” Blancco said.

It’s possible that many believe risks relating to EOL are less prevalent in the cloud, or that a simple lack of knowledge is responsible for putting these high-risk industries at even more of a risk. Backing up the latter point are the 65% of respondents who felt they could better manage EOL on-premises, rather than in the cloud.

Looking ahead, Blancco stresses the need for a “rethink” to data ownership that not only sees it transition from on-prem to cloud storage, but to adapt accordingly as well.

Broadly, some of the most personally identifiable and sensitive information belonging to individuals is held by these industries, and while improved connectivity and collaboration are vital to progression in any sector, risk reduction and compliance should remain a top focus.

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