How safe is the cloud for CRM data? This commonly asked question has relatively become one of the main worries for professionals selecting and ERP, CRM or virtually any business application software. With frequent reports of data breaches over the last and hacking it is no surprise that customers often asks, “How safe is the cloud for CRM data?” In the previous year, there were reports on many large security hacks and thefts of customer data that involved large companies and even governments. Now customers are only concerned with choosing a reliable source to keep their data privacy safe. Some companies are at close heels to invest in their own servers and hosting their own data within their organization which offers some sense of control having the data reside physically within your own premises but often, it’s just a sense of security and nothing more. But again hosting one’s own data servers becomes costly. Hosting your own is very expensive and it can involve investing in security professionals, administrators, firewalls and security hardware which is all expensive. Instead hosting a CRM in the Cloud doesn’t require as much up front cost and as far as security of the data in the cloud goes, here are some points to consider:
· Most security depends where the data is hosted and the cloud computing provider. Providers such as Amazon Web Services, Microsoft Azure, IBM, Rackspace and others invest significantly in security and employee experts to ensure their infrastructure is secure. Of course, some of it up to individual customers to configure and setup the way they need it but on the hardware front, these are quite secure and tens of thousands of large businesses depend on their security.
· The link to the CRM data is established through the most recent TLS and SSL protocols. This ensures a high security system, encoded transmission connecting the server and the end point. Configuration of whether to allow FTP access, SFTP etc is up to the customer.
· It is independently verified by third parties falling in line with world class standards.
· The data accessibility is more transparent through the usage of CRM data. You as a user can have a free hand of who can access your data and do the needed.
· As a customer you would not have a problem transferring your existing data safely. When you switch to Cloud, the transfer becomes more convenient and swift.
· The accessing speed is rapid which in turn improvises your sales force. There will be a marked improvement in your sales force. You business will positively improvise.
So the question to-how safe is the Cloud for CRM data? Most established, reputed companies that offer cloud computing services do employ significant expertise in data security and keep their infrastructure up to date with the latest precautions and safeguards. It would be wise to assume your data is as safe there as it would be on your own servers if not more so.
