Is the Cloud right choice for your document management solution? Is the Cloud safe and secure? Will you lose your documents in the Cloud? Will you have control over the Cloud? Where is the Cloud? What is the Cloud? There are lots of questions, confusion, myths, and a general lack of knowledge about Cloud-based solutions. We want to address these “myths” and help you to make a more educated decision for your document management software solution.
Let’s first address what the Cloud actually is. In reality, the nomenclature was not well thought out. After all, clouds are objects located high in the atmosphere that change form, disappear, are not able to support objects, and are made of water vapor. They seem intangible and far away. So why would any individual want to put their most valuable data in a Cloud?
So what is the Cloud, really? The Cloud is the practice of using a network of remote servers hosted on the Internet to store, manage, and process data, rather than a local server or a personal computer. Think of it as hardware located in a datacenter that you pay someone to use instead of buying your own hardware and having to maintain and replace it regularly. So a Cloud is really hardware located in a data center. As you can see, a Cloud is really hardware based and not some intangible object located in a mystical location.
Data centers have redundant power sources; massive UPS solutions; diesel generators; fire suppressors; 24/7 manned NOCs with monitoring, cameras, physical security personnel, and redundancy in cooling; power; and bandwidth. Many even have redundant multi-geographical locations. Entry is governed through biometric screening, key cards, and locked doors.
The Cloud infrastructure is protected behind enterprise- or carrier-grade firewalls in addition to the carrier-grade firewalls that are protecting the data center. The Cloud uses both physical and virtual firewalls to protect the clients’ data from outside intrusions and breaches. The Cloud provider monitors, maintains, updates, and refreshes equipment as needed.
You want your data in a solid, tangible, secure location. This location has locks, passwords, and protection from harm and individuals that want to steal your information. I once met with an IT manager who was very proud of his company’s data center. It was located on-site in a bank vault. It was very impressive from a physical sense. It had an impressive, thick steel door. It required two keys to be inserted into the door, dual combination locks, and a time lock feature to even be able to open the door. The vault had an additional locked cage and a secondary steel door that also had a key lock on it. The vault was made of reinforced concrete and several feet thick. It was very impressive, and I am confident that no individual could have entered that facility to steal any of the physical hardware and data that it contained.
While admiring all of the impressive physical features, I noticed a small, almost insignificant blue wire that had been drilled through the vault wall. Then I thought, “That little wire is where the thief will enter! That is the weak point and anybody from anywhere in the world could enter this vault and steal any of the valuable data stored here.” Impressive as the physical protections were, they didn’t have proper virtual securities in place to protect the data they held.
eFileCabinet uses secure, encrypted, geographically diverse locations for our Cloud offerings. With eFileCabinet, you can meet compliance standards from entities such as HIPAA and FINRA. See how eFileCabinet can make an impact on your organization, help you go paperless, and provide you with a complete document management solution. Just fill out the form on this page for a free 15-minute demo.