6 Best Practices To Implement Cloud Strategy and Data Protection in the Hybrid Work World

Over the past year, many companies rushed to move their operations and implement a hybrid cloud strategy to support the transition to remote work when the pandemic hit. As people return to the office, it will be crucial for business leaders and IT teams to reassess their current hybrid cloud strategy to make sure it supports the new hybrid work model, discusses Ivan Pittaluga, CTO at Arcserve.

The events of the past year have greatly accelerated cloud adoption. According to a recent study on cloud adoption trendsOpens a new window , 88% of organizations were using cloud infrastructure in some form, while 45% of respondents reported they expect to move 75% or more of their applications to the cloud in the next year. 

Many companies rushed to move their operations and implement a hybrid cloud strategy to support the transition to remote work when the pandemic hit. While storing workloads and applications in the cloud can usher in numerous benefits, like allowing organizations greater agility and the ability to scale much easier, moving to the cloud certainly has its inherent risks. In this rushed transition, there were likely misconfigurations that created security gaps, which can leave a company vulnerable to cyberattacks or data loss. Not to mention, IT teams have had to rethink how to protect digital workspaces, which were previously not paid much attention, from cyberthreats. 

As people return to the office, it will be crucial for business leaders and IT teams to reassess their current hybrid cloud and data protection strategies to ensure they’re sound and make sure they support the new hybrid work model. Here are six tips for organizations to implement a cloud strategy and data protection for the hybrid work world: 

1. Determine Which Hybrid Strategy Is Right for You

When investing in and implementing a hybrid cloud strategy, it’s imperative to understand both its benefits and potential drawbacks so the IT can decide where to store applications and workloads. A well-thought-out hybrid cloud strategy should enable data and applications to move quickly between on-premise and cloud environments. 

However, when implementing a hybrid cloud strategy, there are a few things that IT teams will need to carefully consider, as these environments can quickly become quite complex. They are typically composed of legacy systems and modern cloud deployments, so it’s critical to carefully approach data storage and disaster recovery, so it doesn’t become impossible to handle. 

Learn More: Giving Up Cloud Data Control Puts Businesses at Risk

2. Identify Mission-Critical Applications

To decide where and how data should be stored and recovered, IT teams should first assess which data, workloads, and applications are business and mission-critical. 

Critical workloads and applications should be backed up on-premises to ensure a speedy restoration if there were an outage or cyberattack, as there can be issues with network latency when recovering applications from the cloud. 

Your systems and applications should also have the appropriate recovery point objectives (RPOs) and recovery time objectives (RTOs). Business and mission-critical systems should have RPOs and RTOs of minutes, while other applications can wait a little longer. 

3. Be on the Lookout for Hidden Fees

IT teams need to be highly mindful of costs and fees associated with different cloud services. Often, public cloud services provided by the major hyperscalers charge fees for moving, accessing, or recovering data from their cloud, which can quickly blow disaster recovery budgets out of the water if not appropriately managed. Private clouds, however, can sometimes have more predictable cost models. How often businesses need to move or access data is a crucial consideration for IT teams when deciding where information should be stored and backed up.

4. Implement Backup Best Practices To Protect Your Hybrid Cloud

While an excellent hybrid cloud strategy can provide multiple recovery options for businesses, these environments still need to be fortified with good cybersecurity. Ransomware actors have been stepping up their game and can sometimes hide within a company’s network or cloud environment for weeks and months before encrypting cloud data to hold it hostage. 

So, in addition to instilling redundancy in IT environments through a hybrid cloud model, businesses should also maintain air-gapped copies of their data to ensure it’s out of cybercriminals’ reach. 

This is the critical step in the 3-2-1-1 backup strategy of keeping three copies of your data stored in two different locations, with one copy being off-site, and another air-gapped and stored away from the company network. They should also invest in protecting backups with the same level of security as their production data and continuously scan for potential malicious activity, as well as regularly texting backup plans at least every six months.

5. Establish a Ransomware Response Plan

Organizations should also make sure they have a comprehensive ransomware response plan in the event of an emergency. This will detail the key people who will be involved in handling the crisis, including voices who can make business-critical decisions, if it comes down to it. The plan should also include a course of action, after all, it’s better to be prepared with a plan than left wishing you had one when disaster strikes.

Learn More: 3 Intelligent Automation Opportunities To Transform Banking

6. Invest in Cyber Hygiene Training

Technology is constantly advancing, and at the same time, cybercriminals are continuously innovating their tactics. That said, cybersecurity and data protection can’t be a “one and done” exercise and should instead be a continuous effort. 

Businesses should also invest in training and encourage their teams to pursue cloud certifications to hone their skills. This way, the IT team can stay abreast of the latest threats and be better equipped to ensure there are no cloud misconfigurations that could lead to a potential breach. 

Now Is the Time To Reassess Your Hybrid Cloud Best Practices

As the workforce returns to the office, now is the time to reassess IT environments and brush up on data protection best practices to ensure they’re up-to-snuff and ready to support hybrid work. As long as IT teams review where data is currently stored, the plans for recovery, and their cybersecurity protocols, they’ll be in a much better position to protect data from accidental loss or destruction.

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