An effective governance framework can reduce manual processes associated with tracking accounts, costs and policies. An all-inclusive governance solution also alerts teams of any activities which violate compliance guidelines, taking appropriate follow up actions where needed.
Moving your system infrastructure from on-premises to the cloud adds layers of complexity. A robust cloud governance model will put in place sufficient safeguards against unauthorized changes being made to its architecture.
What Is Cloud Governance?
Cloud governance refers to a set of rules and protocols implemented by businesses operating within a cloud environment in order to mitigate risks, manage costs, and ensure everything runs smoothly.
One of the greatest challenges of cloud governance implementation is striking a balance between structure and agility. Too much structure may hinder innovation; too little, and you run the risk of not meeting compliance requirements or controlling costs. To find this balance, start slowly and introduce governance over time – for instance if one process increases costs associated with new resource deployment start by targeting that one process rather than trying to optimize all processes at once.
Governance plays an essential role in creating clear boundaries between the responsibilities of cloud service provider and customer, such as defining roles of each party, what security operations each handles, how backups should be handled etc. One effective method to facilitate this aspect of governance is infrastructure-as-code; where you build and deploy cloud resources using code instead of manual processes.
An effective cloud governance framework not only supports financial management and automation, but also allows for continuous compliance with industry standards, while mitigating potential financial or regulatory risks. If your company handles credit card data online, for instance, procedures should include maintaining PCI DSS compliance to prevent breaches that could jeopardise reputations and expose legal liabilities.
Why is cloud governance important?
An effective cloud governance framework ensures that all aspects of cloud systems – from asset deployment, systems interactions and data security — are properly considered, examined and managed. This is vital in an environment such as cloud computing which may involve multiple teams and third-party vendors; to adapt to this complexity effectively governance initiatives must be flexible enough to adapt accordingly, meeting organizational policies, security best practices and compliance obligations as effectively as possible.
Organizations moving their systems to the cloud face an additional layer of complexity that increases risk factors such as data breaches and unapproved access. Governance can help identify these threats, devise measures to counter them and evaluate their success through metrics.
An effective cloud governance framework will also streamline administrative processes by automating time-consuming manual tasks and minimizing human error, ultimately leading to lower operational costs and increased resource utilisation efficiency.
An effective cloud governance framework will make it easier for teams to meet regulatory requirements and standards. These regulations may range from industry norms to internal corporate policies related to information security and privacy; with governance making meeting them simpler for teams, this may result in greater success in the digital marketplace.
Lucidchart’s intelligent diagramming solution can empower your teams to quickly clarify complexity, align insights and accelerate innovation – start your free trial now!
Principles of Cloud Governance
An effective cloud governance framework will enable you to address costs, security and asset performance concerns more effectively. However, designing and implementing the ideal governance model takes time, effort, collaboration and clarity of policies adherence – it is therefore imperative that consideration is given to these aspects when planning any cloud deployments.
An effective cloud governance model must clearly establish the roles and responsibilities of team members and cloud service providers within your organization’s cloud ecosystem, while outlining how these parties interact. This will make conflict resolution simpler while decreasing risks related to unauthorized changes that could disrupt operations or processes.
A second principle of an effective cloud governance framework is creating a robust security architecture to safeguard your critical assets. This involves setting appropriate access controls so only authorized personnel have access to necessary resources, as well as outlining how you will monitor and detect events within your cloud environment. You should be prepared to respond quickly in case security breaches or data loss occur in order to minimize disruption or data loss.
Implement a cost management strategy to maximize your return on cloud investments and maximize return. This should include cost optimization, control and reporting. Typically organizations should prioritize urgent items when developing cost management policies; for instance if operating within highly regulated industry should prioritize compliance and security as their top priorities.
Cloud Governance Implementation Challenges
Cloud technology brings many advantages, but also increases the risk of data breaches and other security threats. To mitigate these threats, businesses should create an in-depth governance plan tailored to their cloud ecosystems, with plans designed to identify vulnerabilities, implement plans to reduce them and set metrics that measure success.
Implementing and developing a cloud governance framework can be complex due to its dynamic nature. Teams may deploy assets and systems without considering best practices in terms of security or cost management, adding another layer of complexity that makes controlling applications that impact on cloud ecosystem more challenging.
To overcome these challenges, organizations must follow established governance frameworks and best practices. Policies must be created that protect data security while also controlling costs and streamlining operations; an automated tool that automates key processes can provide a centralized view of their cloud infrastructure is an ideal way of doing so.
An effective cloud governance solution should enable enterprises to evaluate workloads for standardization on Platform-as-a-Service, eliminating infrastructure maintenance needs while cutting costs through eliminating redundant assets. Furthermore, administrators should have access to tools that allow them to optimize performance by downgrading resources that have been overprovisioned or upgrading them as demand changes.
Lucidchart is the go-to online Visio alternative for diagramming and creating flow charts, mockups, UMLs and more. Our user-friendly app enables teams to visually communicate more effectively by clarifying complexity faster, aligning insights quickly and creating faster futures with its cutting-edge features for collaborative work. Launch a free trial today to discover visual communication for yourself!
Cloud Governance Frameworks
As cloud systems continue to play an integral role in enterprise systems, organizations must develop cloud governance frameworks to effectively oversee them. These must adhere to best practices to ensure their cloud deployments are compliant, secure and cost-effective – failing which they could face problems like poor integration of cloud systems, new security risks or difficulty managing data storage needs.
An effective cloud governance framework must include a process for teams within your business to request resources and deploy them, along with policies that govern how those resources may be deployed. Furthermore, this framework should contain mechanisms to prevent shadow IT (the practice of employees using technology outside their team’s domain), and contain mechanisms for tracking cloud costs effectively.
Other essential components of a cloud governance framework include an effective data classification scheme to define how sensitive information should be protected within an organization and financial policies that help reduce spending by setting alert thresholds for budget consumption. Such policies must meet both the needs of each team as well as those outlined by cloud architecture.
An effective cloud governance framework should offer an overview of your entire infrastructure, with metrics set up to measure performance–for instance, how quickly resources respond when requested–helping organizations identify bottlenecks and address them appropriately. A solid cloud governance framework also should include measures to monitor and report on security measures implemented – including misconfigurations which might expose data. Lucidchart is the go-to online diagramming app to clear complexity quickly while aligning insights and building the future more quickly – start your free trial today and see how Lucidchart can enhance team productivity and collaboration!