Most firms wrongfully expect cloud vendors to safeguard their data

An alarming majority of organizations are exporting full responsibility for data protection, privacy and compliance onto cloud service providers, according to a recent study by research firm Vanson Bourne that was sponsored by cloud management technology provider Veritas.

Of the 1,200 business and IT decision makers worldwide surveyed by Vanson Bourne, 69 percent wrongfully think data protection, data privacy, and compliance are the responsibility of the cloud service provider, the report said.

Cloud Data Center

The study showed that many organizations are embracing a multi-cloud strategy, including a variety of cloud service providers. With respect to infrastructure-as-a-service (IaaS), 67 percent of organizations said they use, or plan to use, two or more cloud providers.

Forty-two percent said they are using, or plan to use, three or more cloud providers, with common goals of improving resiliency and data security as well as reducing capital expenditures and operating expenses.

But misperceptions about the cloud continue. For example, more than eight in ten (83 percent) of organizations that use or plan to use IaaS think their cloud service provider takes care of protecting their data in the cloud, and more than half (54 percent) think it’s the responsibility of the cloud service provider to securely transfer data between on-premises and cloud.

In addition, about half (51 percent) think it’s the responsibility of the cloud service provider to back up workloads in the cloud, and more than half (55 percent) also think application uptime is the responsibility of the cloud provider.

This story originally appeared in Information Management.
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