CSA Survey: 64.9% of IT Trusts the Cloud as Much or More than On-Premises Solutions

Sponsored by Skyhigh Networks, New Report Highlights Shift in Strategy Around Cloud Adoption and Security

Seattle, WA – January 13, 2015 – Cloud Adoption does not have to mean opening up your organization to increased security risks and threats if the right policies are in place. That’s what the findings from a new Cloud Security Alliance (CSA) survey, titled The Cloud Balancing Act for IT: Between Promise and Peril, indicated when it surveyed executives and IT managers worldwide. Security professionals indicated receiving, on average, 10.6 requests each month for new cloud services. Perhaps that’s why 71.2% of companies now have a formal process for users to request new cloud services. 

“As a growing number of companies have become more confident in cloud security measures and, with that, are moving their systems of records to the cloud, the role of IT and its relationship to the line of business is changing,” said Jim Reavis, CEO of the CSA. “This survey provides excellent insight into what security professionals are doing to minimize the risks and maximize the benefits of transforming their businesses into cloud-first organizations.”

The Cloud Balancing Act for IT Survey Report includes responses from more than 200 IT and security professionals varying in company size and industries from the Americas, EMEA and APAC regions. Sponsored by Skyhigh Networks, the survey covers several topics ranging from the need to hire CISOs to help curb the likelihood of cyber threats to just how much of the business IT is willing to hand over to cloud services from their legacy on-premises solutions.

Report Highlights

• Customer relationship management (CRM) is the most widely used cloud-based system of record today, but companies have plans to move other systems to the cloud including sales and HR.
• Cloud confidence rising: 64.9% of IT leaders think the cloud is as secure or more secure than on premises software.
• CISOs play an important role in security – having one makes a company more likely to take steps to prepare for a cyber attacks.
• The top barrier to stopping data loss in the cloud is a lack of skilled security professionals.
• 24.6% of companies would be willing to pay a ransom to hackers to prevent a cyber attack and 14.0% would pay more than $1 million

“The benefits of switching your system of records over to the cloud are known: lower cost, faster implementation, and a better user experience,” said Rajiv Gupta CEO of Skyhigh Networks. “What is not known is how this massive disruption will change the day to day activities and role of IT and security professionals. The opportunities are endless when these smart individuals can focus on becoming enablers to their business and partner with lines of business to make IT a truly innovative force.”

Access the report

About Cloud Security Alliance

The Cloud Security Alliance is a not-for-profit organization with a mission to promote the use of best practices for providing security assurance within Cloud Computing, and to provide education on the uses of Cloud Computing to help secure all other forms of computing. The Cloud Security Alliance is led by a broad coalition of industry practitioners, corporations, associations and other key stakeholders.

About Skyhigh Networks

Skyhigh Networks, the cloud security and enablement company, helps enterprises safely adopt cloud services while meeting their security, compliance, and governance requirements. Over 500 enterprises including Aetna, DIRECTV, General Mills, HP, and Western Union use Skyhigh to gain visibility into all cloud services in use and their associated risk; protect against data exfiltration, insider threats and compromised accounts with user behavior analytics; ensure compliance with DLP and collaboration control; and seamlessly enforce data security policies with encryption, contextual access control, and activity monitoring. Headquartered in Campbell, Calif., Skyhigh Networks is backed by Greylock Partners, Sequoia, and Salesforce.com.