A recent article from Computerworld stated many companies that turn their nose at the idea of cloud computing and hosted software are actually employing its services without knowing. According to the article, "if you ask some follow up questions, you will quickly find out about 'that one application' that is a SaaS application."
The article's author is referencing the little known Security-as-a-Service application, which many companies do employ in the form of email anti-spam and antivirus programs. Companies that adopt this security service are actually relying on a third party to oversee their messaging security. In fact, this type of cloud-based, outsourced hardware security is currently growing by 12 percent year-over-year.
Messaging security is perfect for the cloud for several reasons. Firstly, since emails travel through external gateways, security providers have an easier time preventing certain messages from entering or exiting and client companies can rest easier knowing their data is too far "out there" in terms of public cloud access. Secondly, "email transmission has variable latency measured in minutes, so adding an external gateway won't delay things noticeably," states the article.
Research has found that email anti-spam currently accounts for most of cloud-based security systems in place. According to Computerworld, 84 percent of companies using a form of Security-as-a-Service have anti-spam solutions. Following that, 42 percent of companies have antivirus services in place. Past these two solutions, other companies have adopted cloud-based firewalls, intrusion-prevention systems and protection against distributed denial of service attacks.
Companies are typically drawn to security SaaS applications because of their cost effectiveness. With many companies begin hit by the recession during the last several years, budgets were reduced and IT responsibilities still needed to be met. Thus, companies turned to cloud computing and third-party service providers as a viable alternative to on-site hardware and professionals needing to oversee maintenance. Even with the recession's grip currently loosening, companies continue to embrace the cloud and hosted software after hearing of its benefits from others. In fact, a recent report from CloudTweaks states 20 percent of all companies will be in the cloud within four years.
With IT spending expected to rise anywhere between 2 and 5 percent, depending on the various reports from market research firms, companies will continue to allocate greater budgets toward improved security. So even those companies that have "no interest" in the cloud could discreetly embrace its security services.
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