Cloud environments are becoming more common across organizations, with IT teams implementing more advanced cloud solutions like software-defined wide area networking (SD-WAN) and shifting major business processes such as communications to the cloud. This also means more complexity when it comes to protecting data and systems, causing IT to more closely examine security for the cloud.

Security teams must deal with factors like cloud sprawl, both in terms of providers and solutions, and may be unsure how to foster a culture where cloud security policies are applied consistently across applications and environments. Choosing security solutions to fit into an existing environment can create headaches in areas like operations and management, particularly when the solution may not integrate well with legacy tools.

This often results in a disjointed approach that utilizes multiple providers and leads to gaps in the security plan. It also causes limited visibility, which can create vulnerabilities and exposure to risk, plus a higher likelihood of misconfigurations and mistakes.

These factors are particularly influential in a multi-cloud environment, but businesses value multi-cloud for a number of benefits, including:

• The ability to avoid provider lock-in, choosing the best solution and provider for each area of the business
• Flexibility to choose consumption models that fit the price and performance profile
• Resiliency and automatic failover in case of downtime
• Improved adherence to compliance regulations through a variety of solutions

Pursuing a Unified Approach

Business infrastructures continue to diversify to compete effectively in areas like customer experience, which then complicates and expands the attack surface. Organizations require a single pane of glass management solution to manage their risk and improve visibility for consistent security policies.

The answer to security in the cloud is a unified security platform that allows integrated solutions to communicate. It should have open application programming interfaces (APIs) and integration with third-party applications to foster better visibility and collaboration for all applications.

The right solution should follow the data, protecting it with a centralized management console instead of having to independently manage each one and then correlate reporting for threat intelligence.

This type of approach offers a consolidated view for managing private, public, and hybrid cloud environments, and offers key benefits:

• Reduced complexity
• Improved security
• Consistent adherence to compliance regulations

The best unified security solutions will include automation that allows for early detection and prevention, consolidated visibility, and easy implementation, management, and control.

The only way to achieve true security for the cloud, particularly in a distributed infrastructure, is to adopt a platform that is designed for optimal prevention, detection and response to threats, with communication and collaboration integrated across the environment.

If you’ve been considering a new approach to security for the cloud in your multi-cloud or hybrid cloud environment, contact us at eXemplify. From identifying gaps and vulnerabilities in your security plane to identifying the right technology you should leverage for your security strategy, we can help you secure your data and systems.