Trusting the Cloud: A Deeper Look at Cloud Computing Market Maturity

By Frank Guanco, Research Project Manager, CSA

Due to its exponential growth in recent years, cloud computing is no longer considered an emerging technology. Cloud computing, however, cannot yet be considered a mature and stable technology. Cloud computing comes with both the benefits and the drawbacks of innovation. To better understand the complexity of cloud computing, the Cloud Security Alliance (CSA) and ISACA recently released the results of a study examining cloud market maturity through four lenses: cloud use and satisfaction level, expected growth, cloud-adoption drivers, and limitations to cloud adoption.

The study determined that the increased rate of cloud adoption is the result of perceived market maturity and the number of available services to implement, integrate and manage cloud services. Cloud adoption is no longer thought of as just an IT decision; it’s a business decision. Cloud has become a critical part of a company’s landscape and a cost effective way to create more agile IT resources and support the growth of a company’s core business.

Cloud Computing Maturity Stage

Cloud computing is still in a growing phase. This growth stage is characterized by the significant adoption, rapid growth and innovation of products offered and used, clear definitions of cloud computing, the integration of cloud into core business activities, a clear ROI and examples of successful usage. With roles and responsibilities still somewhat unclear, especially in the areas of data ownership and security and compliance requirements, cloud computing has yet to reach its market growth peak.

Cloud Adoption and Growth

How does cloud computing continue to mature? Security and privacy continue to be the main inhibitors of cloud adoption because of insufficient transparency into cloud-provider security. Cloud providers do not supply cloud users with information about the security that is implemented to protect cloud-user assets. Cloud users need to trust the operations and understand any risk. Providing transparency into the system of internal controls gives users this much needed trust.

Companies are experimenting with cloud computing and trying to determine how cloud fits into their business strategy. For some, it is clear that cloud can provide new process models that can transform the business and add to their competitive advantage. By adopting cloud-based applications to support the business, Software as a Service (SaaS) adoption is enabling organizations to channel resources into the development of their core competencies. Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) and Platform as a Service (PaaS) adoptions enable businesses to experiment with new technologies and new services that require resources that would be expensive if they were completed through in-house implementation. IaaS and PaaS also allow companies to adapt to the rapid changes in market demand, because they create a completely new, faster and cheaper offering.

User Satisfaction

According to the ISACA/CSA respondents, the level of satisfaction with cloud services is on the rise. Cloud services are now commonly being used to meet business as usual (BAU) and strategic goals, with the expectation that they will be more important for BAU than strategic plans in the future.

It’s not perfect yet, but the level of satisfaction with cloud services and deployment models is expected to increase as the market matures and vendors define standards to minimize the complexity around cloud adoption and management. The increase of cloud service brokers and integrators is helping businesses to integrate applications, data and shared storage in a more efficient way, making ongoing maintenance much easier.

Moving Past the Challenges

The ISACA/CSA study found that the most significant cloud concerns involve security and international data privacy requirements, data custodianship, legal and contractual issues, provider control over information, and regulatory compliance. Both cloud providers and cloud users have a role is moving past cloud concerns. Cloud providers need to demonstrate their capabilities to deliver services in a secure and reliable manner. Companies must understand their own accountability for security and compliance and their responsibility for implementing the necessary controls to protect their assets.

Gaining Maturity

The decision to invest in cloud products and services needs to be a strategic decision. Top management and business leaders need to be involved throughout a cloud product’s life cycle. Any cloud-specific risk should be treated as a business risk, requiring management to understand cloud benefits and challenges to be able to address cloud-specific risk. The need remains for better explanations of the benefits that cloud can bring to an organization and how cloud computing can fit into the overall core strategy of a business.

To read the entire “Cloud Computing Market Maturity” white paper as well as the study results, please click here.

To learn more about CSA, visit https://cloudsecurityalliance.org.

More information on ISACA may be found at https://www.isaca.org.