should-you-store-your-designs-on-the-cloudThe cloud offers numerous advantages, but like almost everyone else who works with Internet-based technology, you may wonder if it can give your business the privacy and security that you desire. As a creative person who may be thinking of storing your information on the cloud, you may be wondering how you will be able to protect the beautiful layouts you’ve created when you use the cloud.

When it comes to cloud storage of valuable data, new users generally wonder if they will be able to access their data when they need it and whether this information will be protected from unauthorized users like hackers, scammers, and spammers.

Here are answers to five FAQs that will help you to understand cloud storage security much more clearly than reading blogs that go back and forth about the safety or lack of safety of the cloud.

What should I store on the cloud?

Assets
Before deciding whether or not you should use the cloud, you have to do an inventory of what you are considering storing on the cloud. Besides your designs, are you looking for ample room to store your customer relationship management apps, your invoices, accounts, customer’s information, and so on? In other words, what is the value of the assets that you’re thinking of storing on the cloud? Assigning value to these assets will give you an idea of how much you want to spend to secure cloud information.

Liabilities
In a similar way that you’ve made a list of assets to store on the cloud and created a prioritized list based on value, you need to do the same thing with looking at your liabilities. This means assessing the downside of cloud storage. The idea here is to figure out ways to protect your downside. You alone are responsible for what happens to your data on the cloud, not the cloud service provider. For this reason, you have to shop carefully when looking for a cloud provider, since not all clouds offer the same level of security.

Will I be violating compliance regulations?

If you are designing website for a hospital or a bank, for instance, you may have to figure out the compliance regulations for that industry. Sometimes industry authority regulators and government agencies have a long list of security standards that must be met. In rare cases, you will have major restrictions. For instance, you can only use a cloud in the US and not based in another country.

If I decide to use the cloud, how will I be able to secure my data?

Here your choice of Cloud Provider is of utmost importance. If when you did your asset review, you realized that you had a lot of sensitive information that you wanted to migrate to the cloud, you will want to choose a Cloud Provide who has many systems in place to protect your data. If you are thinking of using a cloud solution, you’ll also want network security software to match that selection. Again, is this a private or a public cloud? If it is a public cloud with a lot of other customers, you will want to set up security to ensure your privacy. Ideally, you should ensure that your sensitive data is encrypted when it is flying from your office to the cloud and back.

To Cloud or Not to Cloud?

At this point, you may be wondering why anyone would want to use the cloud at all if there is any hint of a security risk. Well, for one thing, your data on a cloud can be highly secure if you choose a good cloud provider and if you also get cloud security applications for your account. For another, a cloud offers so many benefits that are hard to get from traditional infrastructures that they offer designers a whole new world of advantages.

By using a cloud, you will be able to do the following things:

  • Reduce much of your overhead costs because you hardware and software costs will fall.
  • Allow clients to access the work you have done for them from anywhere in the world.
  • Use the best software in your business at a very low cost using the SaaS model.
  • Improve the environment because you are sharing resources with others and save on energy consumption.
  • Accelerate productivity because you will be able to switch from one application to another highly efficiently.

Final Thoughts
There are many good reasons to use a cloud to run your design business, and with the right cloud provider and appropriate third-party software, you will be able to protect all your data.