Financial sector still fears cloud
Latest research reveals concern within the industry
Despite continuing uptake of software as a service by the majority of companies operating in the financial sector, most still have concerns about adopting cloud-based applications, according to new research from global information assurance specialist NCC Group.
NCC Group surveyed CIOs from financial services companies with more than 1,000 employees.
The results revealed that, although a large proportion of businesses would like to increase their cloud usage, 72% were extremely concerned about their data not being backed up properly as well as the implications of disaster recovery.
Of those yet to adopt the cloud, 40% said that fear of sudden data loss on a mass scale was the main reason they weren’t embracing it.
Daniel Liptrott, managing director of NCC Group’s escrow division said: “As we saw with collapsed data centre provider 2e2 last year, without a proper disaster recovery plan a company can quickly fall to its knees.
“However, there are comprehensive back up solutions available to those using cloud applications, so businesses needn’t shy away from cloud adoption due to fear of data loss, as long as they take necessary precautions.”
The research also highlighted that 74% of financial businesses surveyed would take over a week to implement a contingency plan, should their cloud supplier fail. Furthermore, 5% said it would take between two to three months to fully implement their plans.
Daniel continued: “Businesses invest heavily in cloud services, yet some are still not putting in place contingency plans which are fit for purpose. In a sector where time equates to large sums of money, organisations should ensure that they have comprehensive and effective disaster recovery plans in place to avoid costly delays if something goes wrong.”