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What is cloud governance?

Cloud governance is a set of rules set up by a company that runs and offers cloud services. The goal of cloud governance is to enhance data security, manage risk and enable smooth operation of cloud systems. This method of cloud computing governance for IT, balances resource and risk with a focus on accountability.

Without cloud governance you run the risk of poor integration of cloud systems and a lack of alignment with business goals and face new security issues associated with deploying cloud systems. Consequently, many end up regarding cloud computing as very costly, but the backbone of the perception is surely or rather mostly, a case of poor governance. For good governance to occur, some principles have to be put in place to serve as guidelines for proper cloud governance.

Proper cloud governance is a matter of interest. We’ve come across scenarios whereby companies have fallen short of expectation cause of poor governance. Kenyan startup, Twiga Foods, being one of them, is facing a lawsuit due to unpaid debts amounting to Sh39million.

Incentro Africa in court papers has filed an insolvency case against Twiga foods for an accrued debt amounting to Sh39million after it allegedly failed to pay the latter amount for Google Cloud Services and Partner Service Funds as well under it’s Google Partners Funding Programme. All this has led to Twiga foods facing the possibility of liquidation after already having to lay down its workforce to meet company expenses.

Principles of cloud governance.

1. Compliance and Security: Cloud usage standards must be consistent with regulations and compliance standards used by your organization and others in the industry as well. This principle puts into perspective a couple of other things, namely:

   • Data Privacy: Ensuring that data stored in the cloud complies with relevant data protection regulations.
   • Security Policies: Implementing security protocols and access controls to protect data from unauthorized access and cyber threats.
   • Compliance Checks: Regularly auditing cloud services to ensure compliance with industry standards and regulatory requirements.

2. Cost Optimization: Alongside fiscal management, measuring, monitoring, and optimizing cloud costs is an important principle of the cloud governance framework. The procedures and tools involved in cost optimization can enable your business to manage cloud spend while maximizing cloud investment. However, for this to happen a couple of things have to be put into consideration and practiced as well:

   • Budgeting: Setting budgets and cost limits to prevent overspending on cloud resources.
   • Cost Monitoring: Tracking cloud resource usage to identify cost-saving opportunities and optimize spending.
   • Resource Optimization: Ensuring resources are used efficiently to avoid unnecessary expenses.

3. Performance Management: A better model for governing data relates to optimizing assets for their workloads. It consists of downgrading assets due to initial over-provisioning or a fall in demand - or upgrading them as demand increases. Its best practices also include ensuring that the stored data is in the most cost-effective location.

4. Asset and Configuration Management: Asset management involves the assets your business uses to deliver IT and cloud services. Configuration management involves tracking the relationship between IT or cloud service components. Together this principle monitors cloud services and deliverables to ensure consistency and quality.

5. Financial Management: This principle revolves around creating and implementing a strategy for governance structure to address cloud inefficiencies and higher cloud costs. Which third-party vendor you use and whether you work in the public or private cloud can have an impact. Investing time into fiscal management helps you understand the costs of the cloud.

6. Security and incident management: Ensuring your cloud operations are secure and having a plan to react should a breach occur are vital for working in the cloud. Cloud security posture management (CSPM), which identifies and remediates risk using threat detection, uninterrupted monitoring, and automating visibility, is a good framework to use. Searching for misconfigurations in cloud environments can help bolster public, private and hybrid cloud security.

Why is Cloud Governance Important?

1. Improves Cloud Resource Management: Cloud governance can help break down cloud systems into individual accounts that represent departments, projects, or cost centres within the organization. This is a best practice recommended by many cloud providers. Segregating cloud workloads into separate accounts can improve cost control, visibility, and limits the business impact of security issues.
2. Reduces Shadow IT: The risks and costs of cloud systems significantly increase if the organization is unaware which systems and data are deployed where. It is extremely common nowadays for employees to turn to shadow IT systems when they do not get a rapid response from traditional IT services. Cloud governance enables employees to request cloud resources in a convenient way, yet one that applies the relevant controls and visibility for the organization. Instead of turning to shadow IT, employees can receive access to cloud systems, within the organization’s compliance and budget constraints.
3. Reduces Administrative Overhead: Without a cloud governance program and technology solutions to support it, organizations tend to use spreadsheets or other manual processes to track cloud accounts, costs, and compliance issues, or to control access and budgets for cloud resources. This is inefficient, error prone, and breaks down at large scale. A complete cloud governance solution enables organizations to centrally define policies and apply them to the entire cloud infrastructure. It centralizes control over access and costs, raises alerts, and makes it easier to respond to violations. This saves time and effort, reduces the risk of non-compliant activities and unexpected cloud costs.
4. Improves on reduction of Cloud Security Issues: A cloud governance model establishes an authentication strategy to protect the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of information. It allows the organization that no matter where data exists or critical systems are deployed, there will be visibility of sensitive information and assurances that the appropriate security controls are in place.

What are the Challenges?

• A major challenge of cloud governance is the breadth of topics to address. It is more practical to introduce a comprehensive governance framework incrementally, rather than in a single step. Start with the highest priority items for your organization – in strictly regulated industries, compliance and security are top priorities. If your cloud spending is excessive and unsustainable, focus on cost management early in the process.

• Automation is essential to governance. Cloud environments are dynamic and can scale to large numbers of resources, components, and services. Take advantage of cloud service features that support governance, such as data lifecycle management policies that can help ensure data is stored in proper storage services and purged on a defined schedule. Use third-party tools, such as vulnerability scanners to check the contents of code repositories and pinpoint vulnerabilities in your applications.

• Finally, governance is an ongoing effort with multiple processes. Governance frameworks such as NIST are useful starting points to help guide your organization’s governance practices.

What is the best Approach?

Its best practices vary for each business as per its objectives and level of the cloud journey. Also, thousands of Cloud Governance solutions providers are available in the online marketplace today. One needs to analyse the business assets and performance and then build accordingly. Therefore, the policies are easily governed with the total visibility of business resources.

In conclusion, cloud governance is not a hurdle; it is a gateway to unprecedented opportunities. Businesses that master the art of cloud governance empower themselves to innovate fearlessly, scale efficiently, and navigate the digital landscape with confidence. Embracing cloud governance is not just a choice—it is a necessity for thriving in the competitive world of modern business. Want to Learn more about how our services can ensure you are in compliance with Cloud Governance Policies & Regulations?

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