This article was written by Luc Hendrikx, CEO of CIONET International. It is based on a discussion during a exclusive round table event with Belgian Digital Leaders on June 3rd 2021. This event was organised by CIONET with the support of IBM.
The benefits of Public Cloud are commonly know. However, cloud solutions also have clear boundaries. Despite the constraints and limitations imposed on them, regulated industries also need to improve their customer experience and modernise their core applications. In order to transform and innovate faster, they also need to be able to integrate with third-party providers and require the agility and on-demand provisioning that public cloud offers.
The term "Public Cloud" is badly chosen. It suggests that access to applications and data in this cloud is available to the public, ie to everyone. Obviously this is not the case. However traditionally general believe was that you have less control over your data and security in the Cloud than on premise. This has led most organisations to conduct classification exercises on their data, applications and business processes on which they build their cloud migration strategy. Many organisations exclude migrating to Public Cloud for major parts of their landscape for regulatory reasons. Although Cyber Security specialists are gradually convinced that security and control in the Public Cloud is better than on premise when done right, many misconceptions still exist amongst risk management, regulatory and legal professionals.
Some organisations have moved on and pivoted away from this approach. They reached a clear tipping point. If part of their business requires the benefits of the Public Cloud, they decide to go to Public Cloud despite the regulatory challenges. They start working with their technology partners, regulatory experts, risk managers, legal teams and their regulators to overcome these challenges. They start from the conviction that solutions exist! The major challenge is to select the right cloud service that matches the requirements of your use case. New techniques like Hyperprotect and Confidential Computing are maturing rapidly and create new opportunities. Be aware however that they also have a significant cost impact and can fundamentally change the business case.
If you want to move beyond the low hanging fruit and start leveraging Cloud for core processes in your regulated business, the panel recommends the following:
Finally, the panellists also discussed the fact that the hyperscale cloud providers are gradually becoming more powerful and systemically important than nations, multi-national clients and regulators. If their importance continues to grow, regulators might end up with only one option: make data centers a public good. The panellists strongly recommend the hyperscale cloud providers to take this into consideration and to work with them to properly address all local regulatory concerns.
I would like to thank our panellists for the constructive discussion, their insights and the great learnings. During this executive lunch, our panel consisted of: