In the first article of this three-part series on hybrid cloud security, we discussed the Shared Responsibility Model, and examined how the most common attack strategies persist, are amplified, or are mitigated as assets move from data centers to the cloud. In part two, we talked about the unique security challenges that are introduced by public cloud environments. In this third and final installment, we’ll review why it’s essential to approach hybrid cloud security with different methods, tools and best practices than those used in the data center.

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Digital transformation is happening everywhere. It starts with an expectation that whatever an organization does in the real world is supported by—and expands through—its digital presence. As the process continues, digital transformation should drive innovative ways to engage customers, get the most from resources and differentiate its way into completely new markets.
All these great expectations come from both within and outside an organization, and can add up to a big challenge for any team. According to MIT Sloan Management Review, “Preparing for a digital future is no easy task. It means developing digital capabilities in which a company’s activities, people, culture and structure are in sync and aligned toward a set of organizational goals.” (MIT SMR, July 26, 2016)

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Digital transformation.
It’s only two simple words, but in the increasingly complex, customer-centric enterprise IT landscape, it’s a phrase that carries multiple meanings — to the point where some would probably observe, tongue-in-cheek, that it doesn’t mean anything anymore.
It’d be hard to argue that “digital transformation” hasn’t been pushed into buzzword territory by those of us who write about business IT, but I feel like that speaks more of the concept’s genuine relevance and importance to the success of today’s digital first enterprises than just simple hype. The sports media talks about the Golden State Warriors, Cleveland Cavs, and their superstar players a lot, too.

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A new survey from machine data analytics provider Sumo Logic has found more than two thirds of enterprises either plan to adopt DevOps or are already doing so, while four in five are currently or plan to use at least one public cloud service.

The study, titled ‘The New Normal: Cloud and DevOps Analytics Tools Reign in the Modern App Era’ and put together alongside UBM Technology, found that of the 230 IT operations, app development and information security professionals polled, 67% are utilising software as a service, while 42% are deploying and updating apps more frequently than in the past.

When it came to the types of public cloud service being used, Microsoft Azure (66%) and Amazon Web Services (55%) were the most popular. In another finding that was less than surprising, security was the biggest challenge to cloud adoption, cited by 27% of respondents. Only 6% of those polled thought the security of public cloud was ‘excellent’, albeit with 55% adding public cloud services were more secure than previously.

“As cloud computing becomes standard in IT organisations, concerns about security and loss of control persist,” said Amy Doherty research director for UBM Technology in a statement. “This new study confirms these findings and delves into best practices for how cloud-first companies are leveraging new tools and technologies to speed adoption.”

This publication has extensively covered previous DevOps research, with recent studies having a lack of consensus in common. Automation software provider Quali, taking data from various industry events in 2016, found earlier this month that the current vendor ecosystem was open-ended, while almost half of applications in traditional environments were considered ‘complex’ for cloud.

More than one in three companies admit it has been either ‘difficult’ or ‘very difficult’ to find specific cloud skills for their organisation, according to a new study from Microsoft.

The dreaded ‘cloud skills gap’ has been long reported by this publication – ‘the trend will continue further through 2013’, this reporter once warned – but in the Microsoft report, titled ‘Closing the Cloud Skills Gap’, only 31% of the 250 respondents polled said they have recruited for cloud skills over the past 12 months. 8% of overall respondents said it was ‘very difficult’ to find the right skills, compared with 30% who opted for ‘difficult’.

One contributing factor to the continued malaise is that companies are being forced to think ‘beyond their established business models’, Microsoft notes; for instance, Rolls-Royce now sells flight miles as opposed to aircraft engines, and RAC is a pre-emptive vehicle maintenance service as well as offering roadside assistance.

“Those organisations that are forced to stall their transformational journeys due to a lack of skills will find themselves facing significant challenges,” the report notes. “Indeed, they may find that by the time they are able to meet the demands of both customers and employees, the market has moved on, rendering them irrelevant.”

It’s not as if organisations are setting the barrier especially high either: only 8% say recognised cloud certifications were ‘essential’ when recruiting, compared with 27% who say they are ‘highly desirable’ and 45% ‘nice to have’. That said, if most people’s job hunts are anything to go by, ‘highly desirable’ usually means ‘you probably should have it’; and as the report notes, “those people that do have certifications will enter the interview room with an advantage.”

The study also looked at closing the gender gap within technology firms; 22% of companies with 250 to 999 employees said they had zero female contingent, although on the plus side not one organisation with more than 1000 employees opted for 0%; the most popular bucket was 30-39% (26% of respondents).

Ultimately, the study argues that while there is still work to be done, the figures can be spun in a positive light for those who want to move into the industry. “Whilst the data outlines the challenges that many organisations face, it should make for positive reading for those interested in pursuing a cloud career or for businesses that already offer cloud consultancy to other organisations,” the report notes.

“With demand outstripping supply, those equipped with cloud skills can be confident that their talents will be required for the foreseeable future.”

When it comes to gaining those cloud skills for an organisation, the best advice is to plan ahead and prepare for as many situations as possible. “You can’t move to the cloud until you understand fully the shape of your current IT estate and the applications which support the organisation,” wrote Eduserv’s Andrew Hawkins in this publication last year. “Mapping these will allow you to understand areas which are compatible and incompatible with a cloud operating model ahead of time.”

For individuals looking to beef up their talents, IT learning organisation Firebrand Training offered its five key in-demand skills for 2017 back in February, citing database and big data, application security, enterprise cloud migration, containers, and cloud enterprise application development. Naturally, Microsoft wants to be at the forefront of enabling businesses, outlining its commitment to train 500,000 digital specialists and 30,000 public servants by 2020.

Elsewhere, Microsoft announced that its UK Azure data centres are now compliant with the Payment Card Industry (PCI) Data Security Standards (DSS) certification, outlining the move as ‘crucial’ for storing customers’ financial details. The news comes at an interesting time, especially given reports elsewhere over problems with AWS provisioning in its UK base.

You can read the Microsoft report in full here (no registration required).

Read more: The top five in-demand cloud skills for 2017

When you have a billion users, people notice. That’s where our story about DevOps and Yahoo! starts. For Kishore Jalleda and Gopal Mor, both engineers at Yahoo!, when something goes wrong on a Yahoo! page, people will notice. Correction: a lot of people will notice.
Of course, Yahoo!, like all services on the Internet, constantly improves its products. In fact, they have 100+ iterations and experiments happening at any given time. Some changes bring new innovation to the forefront and others alter the user experience.

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These days attacks are becoming more sophisticated and more common. Mobile devices, cloud computing and the Internet of Things have increased the number of access points that must be secured. To complicate matters, CISOs are been directed to secure system without compromising the seamless experience that customers expect across channels, and if the organization is in a regulated industry, compliance issues likely increase the team’s workload.
To best detect threats and respond to incidents quickly, many organizations decide they need a security operations center to provide proper protection and continuous prevention. Then they must decide whether to build an internal Security Operations Center (SOC) or outsource.

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SYS-CON Events announced today that Auditwerx will exhibit at SYS-CON’s 20th International Cloud Expo®, which will take place on June 6-8, 2017, at the Javits Center in New York City, NY.
Auditwerx specializes in SOC 1, SOC 2, and SOC 3 attestation services throughout the U.S. and Canada. As a division of Carr, Riggs & Ingram (CRI), one of the top 20 largest CPA firms nationally, you can expect the resources, skills, and experience of a much larger firm combined with the accessibility and attention of a boutique firm.

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