While Software as a Service (SaaS) and Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) industries have both grown tremendously in the past few years, according to IDC sales of cloud IT infrastructure products increased over 34% in the second quarter of 2020 compared to the same period in 2019. Cloud saw incredible growth in 2020 and may be worth a better look. Here are 5 ways cloud-based IT management solutions can improve the operational cybersecurity whether it’s business as usual or during a time of crisis:
Asset Visibility No Matter the Location
A sudden change, such as shifting in-house staff to remote positions, can represent a huge security challenge that organizations need to address. Having visibility into these new endpoints may be challenging depending on how they connect to the corporate network. Without proper visibility, security and IT operations are limited in knowing how secure these devices may be. Even worse, if these devices aren’t patch managed, employee machines may be low hanging fruit for attackers. Cloud-native patching solutions make it easy for users to maintain full endpoint visibility no matter where a device is located and ensure that critical security updates are getting deployed.
Ability to Easily Scale with Organization
Unlike on-prem solutions, which require dedicated servers and ongoing maintenance, cloud-native services require no additional hardware or software to maintain. SaaS solutions are always up-to-date and enable faster rollout of new features and functionality.
Secured Cloud Services
Most organizations require vendors to meet or exceed industry-accepted baselines defined by regulatory requirements or organizational policy. For example, SOC 2 Type 2 certification is the generally accepted baseline for third-party vendors that provide SaaS services, and it’s a key requirement for some organizations that are considering a shift of their patching and endpoint hardening strategies to the cloud.
Cross-Platform Endpoint Management
Cross-platform endpoint management is integral for an effective and efficient vulnerability patching and endpoint hardening strategy. In times past, most devices were on-prem and they all ran on the sam operating system. But these days, organizations often have a vast network of endpoints that run on different platforms. Cloud-based solutions offer a modern approach to endpoint management by streamlining the process of deploying security updates across vast networks of different endpoints and operating systems.
Automated Policy Management for Faster Remediation
Policy automation software based in the cloud can be easily deployed to new devices as they are added, regardless of the device’s location, which allows for rapid scaling. Cloud-native systems streamline vulnerability remediation by automatically patching endpoints on a regular schedule and keeping reports on patch status by device.
How big of a factor is cloud in your IT decision-making?