CLOUD COMPUTING AND ERP
From storing music to running ERP systems, the Cloud looms over us all with promises of convenience, efficiency, and access, access, access.
When it comes to ERP suites and cloud computing, your ERP provider can host your applications and data across multiple sites and any number of miles, caring for them under a watchful eye. The Cloud, many say, is rising on everyone’s horizon with advantages that have yet to be fully explored and cost-savings that have yet to be felt. However, any tech novice can tell you that with great access comes great vulnerability… and apparently the Chinese government.
CLOUD COMPUTING: THREATS FROM AFAR
No proponent of Cloud-based ERP’s would dare suggest that security is less of a concern for them than it is with on-site ERP implementations. To their credit, major ERP firms tout various security features such as Secure Socket Layer (SSL) encryption and server firewalls, but then comes a report that China’s government is continuing organized cyber espionage against US industries. Indeed, earlier exposés on the issue have done nothing to slacken Chinese efforts to steal industry secrets and business strategies. And while the Chinese government absolutely refutes such accusations, it would seem that not even Ben Affleck is safe.
Hacking is nothing new and has long been a tool of organized crime, but we may be entering an era in which the features of Cloud-based ERPs need to take a back seat to the politico-economic theater we find ourselves in. To downplay the growing sophistication, organization, and political will behind cyber espionage—and from one of the world’s largest economies no less—is to expand a Cloud that could be as tenuous as its meteorological namesake. Basically, if we don’t focus on growing Cloud security concerns today then we could see data breaches of our most sensitive assets tomorrow. The excitement and profits of the Cloud-based ERP market will serve us poorly if a later market backlash over security vulnerabilities crushes interest in this new frontier.
An entire generation of new ideas and innovations are always possible within a burgeoning technology. However, ERP firms, whether vendors or consultants, must not shy away from candidly addressing aggressive and well-funded security threats from competing cultures half a world away. Take the time to talk to your ERP and Cloud computing consultants to find out how they intend to keep your sensitive data safe.