CSA and ISACA surveyed more than 250 people from 50 countries and found that businesses lack confidence in the cloud ecosystem across a variety of market aspects, including government regulations keeping pace with the market, exit strategies, international data privacy, legal issues, contract lock-in, data ownership and custodian responsibilities, longevity of suppliers, integration of cloud with internal systems, credibility of suppliers, and testing and assurance.
The vast majority (85%) of survey respondents identified themselves as cloud users, but further levels of adoption are being hamstrung by a lack of clarity in terms of how to remedy the concerns.
“As a first step, we as an industry must still work to provide a clearer definition of what cloud is and how the many innovative and secure services can help positively impact today’s businesses,” said JR Santos, global research director at CSA. “But, we need to start at the top and engage senior management. Cloud needs can no longer be thought of as a technical issue to address, but rather a business asset to embrace.”
Overall, the report found that while there are many positive indicators that support the planned adoption and perceived value of cloud services in the years ahead, much progress remains regarding engaging and gaining buy-in among business leaders.
“One of the most interesting findings is that governance issues recur repeatedly on the list of the top 10 concerns,” said Greg Grocholski, international president of ISACA. “Cloud users recognize the value of this model, but are wrestling with such questions as data ownership, legal issues, contract lock-in, international data privacy and government regulations.”
Organizations like the CSA, ISACA and the UK's ICO continue to work on security guidance, best practices and the evolution of standards to bolster the view of cloud services as secure and mature enough for adoption in sensitive areas. “As cloud services continue to evolve, it is critical that we work together as an industry to provide insights and recommendations on these issues so that service and solution providers can look to innovate and deliver what the cloud services market needs to advance and what enterprises need to succeed,” said Grocholski.