JuiceIT Guest Blog | IT Trends in Security, Cloud, and More

The calendar year is well underway, and businesses are looking ahead to FY ‘23/24 and beyond, and what the future might mean for their IT systems — and that is no easy task. 

Given ever-changing trends in cloud computing, security, and more, it can be difficult to plan with certainty. However, knowing what developments might arise, both now and in the future, is vital to preparing your organisation and maximising cost efficiencies. 

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The state of security — facing data growth, emerging threats, and rising costs 

One thing is certain, the need for dependable data stewardship has never been greater! 

According toCyber security Ventures research, total global data storage is expected to exceed 200 zettabytes (for those curious, a zettabyte is 1 billion terabytes!) of data by 2025. Unfortunately, global cyber crime damage is projected to reach?USD$10.5 trillion annually?by the same time, while ransomware is expected to impact a business, consumer, or device?every two seconds?by 2031. 

The more data we produce, the more valuable it becomes — making your ability to properly secure it paramount. 

Per?Veeam’s 2022 Ransomware Trends Report?that polled 1,000 IT leaders whose organisations sustained a ransomware attack in 2021, 73% suffered two or more in the last 12 months. On average, 47% of production data was affected when a bad actor penetrated an environment, while just 67% of the affected data was recoverable using backups. 

Emerging cloud trends 

Cloud adoption continues to rise at a fast and furious pace. 

Foundry’s 2022 Cloud Computing research?revealed that 69% of businesses sped up their cloud migration over the past year. W, while worldwide spending on public cloud services is projected to reach nearly USD$600 billion in 2023, according to?Gartner. Additionally,?Veeam’s 2023 Data Protection Trends Report discovered that more than half of all organisation’s production workloads are now hosted in the cloud. 

The pandemic accelerated the shift to cloud-hosted workloads as organisations required fast access to data and applications due to restricted physical operations. However, this trend is not a one-way path — and many are finding that their original “cloud-first” strategies may need adjusting due to the complexity of managing risk across a distributed computing environment. 

For this reason, amongst others, organisations are increasingly turning to hybrid computing and managed backup services to ensure the continuity of data protection, security, and assurance. As businesses navigate the complexities of hybrid computing infrastructure — including a much broader attack surface and greater requirements for protection — they must take a comprehensive approach to ensure data can be protected and secured regardless of where it is located. 

This requires modularising applications so they can move between clouds, understanding which parts need to go together if certain pieces are moving around, and using cloud-based backup solutions for maximum protection. 

Just as important is understanding that this hybrid approach is fluid. It is about moving the right workloads onto the right?clouds?(and potentially back again), as it makes sense for the business, ensuring all cyber security requirements are met. 

By using the right tools and technologies, you can ensure your organisation’s data is always secure and protected regardless of where it is located. 

Lessons learned as you prepare for the year ahead 

The biggest lesson learned is simple: You don’t have to do this alone. 

Experience equals better business and mission outcomes, and you should seek out specialists who can handle many of your critical needs for you. 

Some other pieces of advice include: 

• Think “cloud-smart” not “cloud-first.”?Look for ways to make better use of existing resources and identify specific clouds or services that are most beneficial for your needs. As part of this shift, implement zero-trust architectures to improve security by restricting access based on user identity rather than location. 
• Keep up with security best practices.?Firewalls and antivirus software are not enough — you need a comprehensive security plan that combines multiple layers of protection. Zero-trust solutions like multi-factor authentication (MFA) are becoming increasingly commonplace, as well as real-time monitoring and automated incident response capabilities to help protect your data from malicious actors. 
• Don’t skimp on DR and data backup.?While the goal is always to protect data, you need redundancies in place should something go wrong. This means having a robust system for backing up critical information as well as plans for restoring operations quickly following any disruption. Regularly test your DR plans, automate processes when feasible, and update your plans as your production environment changes. 

Technology is constantly evolving, and IT departments must work tirelessly to keep up with the changes. Staying informed about industry trends will help you stay ahead of the curve and ensure your infrastructure can meet its current needs as well as any future developments. 

For more advice on securely managing your cloud from 11:11 Systems, attend their upcoming presentation at JuiceIT 2023, ‘Bridging the Data Protection Gap.