Cloud computing is the use of resources such as servers and storage over the Internet. Cloud computing is highly sought-after because it offers a pay-as you-go model for enterprise apps. Cloud computing is more affordable and feasible than investing in local resources.
Cloud computing also offers many other benefits, including improved productivity, speed, and performance, the ability of scaling up resources as and when needed, and better security.
Below are the roles and responsibilities of cloud computing professionals who are involved with the various cloud service arrangements.
Cloud service provider
Cloud customer
Cloud broker
Cloud Access Security Broker
Regulators
Cloud Service provider: “Cloud computing” is one of the most prominent concepts. We would all have heard this word in all possible situations, but we don’t know its meaning or significance.
A “cloud service provider” (or CSP) is an organization that hosts all services, such as software, hardware, and infrastructure. They also manage and employ staff and provide security for the services that they offer. This allows clients organizations to be relieved of the responsibility of setting up and managing their infrastructure. Cloud service providers include Amazon Web services, Microsoft Azure, Salesforce, Google Cloud Platform, and many others.
Cloud customer: An organization seeking to use the cloud services of a cloud service provider is called a “cloud customer”.
Cloud broker: As more organizations migrate their needs to the cloud, “cloud computing” itself becomes more complex and undergoes many changes. Cloud service providers can then become difficult to choose from. This is where a “cloud broker” comes in to play.
An organization that acts as a mediator between the “cloud service provider”, and the “cloud customer”, is called a “cloud broker”. The “Cloud broker” allows customers to select the right vendor for their business needs. They assist customers in negotiating terms and conditions, pricing, and other details with cloud service providers.
Cloud access security broker: As cloud adoptions grow, security becomes more than just a necessity. Cloud access security brokers (CASBs) are the solution to better security for cloud services.
CASBs are organizations that can be found on-premise or in the cloud and act as intermediaries between cloud service providers, customers, and cloud service providers. McAfee website states that CASBs “enforce security, compliance, and governance for cloud apps”.
CASBs are a relatively new concept that was created in 2011. They were initially intended to improve security for shadow IT services, but they have since expanded to other services (like encrypting sensitive data and tokenizing it which is uploaded, and preventing misuse of cloud data by outsiders and insiders). Gartner predicts that CASBs could be used to govern more than 60% of cloud services by 2022.
Regulators:Regulators such as the ‘Federal Trade Commission’ (FTC) and ‘Securities and Exchange Commission’ (SEC) ensure that companies stay in compliance with regulatory frameworks such as HIPAA (Health Information Portability and Accountability Act), SOX (Sarbenes- Oxley Act) and GLBA (Gramm Leach Bliley Act) and other frameworks.
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This post outlines some of the roles and responsibilities associated with cloud computing. Stay tuned for more information in the InfoSec domain.
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