Cloud Adoption Checked by Security Concerns

Cloud computing security concerns outweigh the potential cost savings by a two to one margin, according to a recent survey of government and industry IT professionals by nCircle.

The study conducted

Only 32 percent of those questioned in the study conducted by automated compliance auditing company said that cost savings outweigh security issues, however that is an increase of 6 percent from last year. Thirty-five percent said they are already are doing some cloud computing, up from 24 percent last year, and another third are considering the move.

nCircle surveyed 551 IT professionals for the study on cloud computing in March, 40 percent of whom had some security role in their organizations. About 11 percent of respondents were in federal government and another 5 percent were in state and local government.

Cloud computing could benefit from another trend in government, Cummins said: the move toward continuous monitoring of the security status of systems. This is becoming federal policy pursuant to this agreement new FISMA compliance requirements, however a number of agencies already have made improvements in security by putting it into practice.