68.2 Billion Pound. That’s the amount of money Britons spent online in 2011, according to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). And whilst this figure underlines Britain’s status as the biggest online shopping nation in the developed world, it also points to a bigger story:
The customers have moved online into the Cloud, and so have the businesses that serve them. So the question today isn’t whether a business should have a presence in the Cloud (you should), rather it’s now about how to choose a great Cloud file sharing vendor to work with.
Or in practical terms: What software and service provider should you use for cloud file sharing? To help you answer this question, here are 5 things to look out for when choosing software (and thus, a service provider) to help you move your business into the Cloud.
Table of Contents
1.) Asymmetric-Key/Public-Key Encryption:
An additional security measure over and above standard encryption in transit and at rest. Because it guarantees that, when implemented properly, any data that is accessed in a data breach will be indecipherable by the cyber attacker.
2.) Knowing The Physical Location Of Your Data:
Under the Data Protection Act 1998, you are responsible for ensuring that you don’t transfer your customers’ data to any countries that don’t offer adequate data protection. This is much easier to ensure and demonstrate when your Cloud file sharing vendor offers transparent global residency of your data.
3.) Track And Transfer Facilities:
Just like sending a parcel by FedEx, or tracking an order from Amazon, it’s important that you use data transfer software that lets you specifically track the journey of each file that you sent.
4.) Granular Administrative Control:
When choosing data sharing software, you want software that lets you determine user access at a microscopic level. You want software that gives you the freedom to easily specify and enforce file access restrictions for every single user of the system. You want software that gives each file its own unique URL that can be specifically shared without having to give the recipient access to the entire file sharing site.
5.) ISO 27001 Compliance:
Like the blue Intel sticker on the front of a PC, or the Farmer’s Choice label on produce in a supermarket, the ISO 27001 is a rare certification and level of accreditation only awarded to companies and organisations whose internal procedures are compliant with international standards of information security management.
There are many more considerations when it comes to choosing a Cloud vendor and software for doing business in the Cloud. But if you use these 5 criteria as a tool for evaluating all your options of Cloud file sharing vendors, then your time in the Cloud will be more secure and profitable than if you didn’t.
Maytech is a company that makes global cloud file sharing products for SMEs, Global Organisations and the UK government. For a free trial of their Quatrix suite of products, visit the Maytech website. Just click here now to get started.
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