How Safe Is Storing Data in SAP Cloud Solutions?

Depending on who you ask, storing data in the cloud is either risky or perfectly safe. Recent threats, such as the OpenSSL Heartbleed vulnerability and a cyber-espionage threat dubbed "Dragonfly," remind us that cloud security is an ongoing process. Fortunately, organizations such as Symantec, the Open Data Center Alliance, and SAP take cloud security seriously.

For example, Symantec's O3 platform is a single sign-on system that "enforces access control policies across web applications" while also implementing risk management and compliance measures across SaaS applications.

The Open Data Center Alliance is a consortium of leading global IT organizations formed to "speed the migration to cloud computing by enabling the solution and service ecosystem to address IT requirements with the highest level of interoperability and standards."

According to Dolphin Enterprise Solutions Corporation, a SAP solutions provider, SAP offers a number of tools to help companies run SAP solutions on private cloud architectures. Dolphin was the first company to incorporate SAP data and document archiving strategies into cloud storage with its Content Archive Service for Cloud. This particular service acts as a "cloud connector" which connects data from the SAP archiving layer to major public cloud providers such as Google Cloud or Amazon S3. With cloud storage costing about 10 percent of traditional archiving using on-premises hardware, storing SAP data in the cloud makes financial sense -- but is it safe?

A lot depends on the cloud provider you choose. If you go with a cloud provider that does not prioritize security, does not use secure transport mechanisms, does not use encryption, does not have a well-defined security policy, and does not have a secure facility, your data will be at risk. On the other hand, if you go with a cloud provider who does prioritize security, does use secure transport mechanisms, does use encryption, does have a well-defined security policy, does operate a secure facility, and is constantly monitoring for threats and looking for ways to further improve the security of its cloud services, your data will be much safer. If you want even greater peace of mind, you could store your SAP archived data in a private cloud operated by your own IT team.

SAP has also addressed cloud security concerns. According to the SAP Business Innovation blog, some of the common concerns with storing data in the cloud include: access control, hacking, and viruses (1). Note that all of these concerns are also concerns that surround on-premises storage. The blog post went on to explain that cloud storage providers have responded by adding firewalls, using the latest encryption technologies, and using specialized antivirus and cloud security tools to protect data stored in their clouds.

Storing data, whether on a hard drive locked up in your company's basement or in the cloud, has its security risks (2). The key to mitigating those risks is understanding them, doing your homework, and choosing service providers that offer the most secure SAP cloud computing solutions available.

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