5 Steps to manage risks when hosting big data in the cloud

on

More and more companies are looking to the cloud for their big data solution.  There are many good reasons for it as mentioned in one of my previous post.

There are also some risks associated with it though. Once the key tenet of risk management is understood that risk can never be eliminated but once understood, it can be managed, companies can plan for it.

Five steps from Reinhold et al. (2011) may be used to manage big-data risks in cloud computing environments.


Five Steps to Manage Risks

  1. Implement a process to continually review, assess and understand big-data in cloud computing risks in an organization's local and global environments
  2. View the big-data in cloud computing risk management process and technology improvements strategically rather than tactically and act accordingly
  3. Ensure all underlying data is consistent, well-defined and understood by managers and other stakeholders
  4. Ensure data is of high quality along all relevant quality dimensions and that data governance responsibilities are well-defined
  5. Continually invest in improvements in both cloud computing infrastructure and analytical big-data capabilities and ensure these capabilities are congruent with the strategic needs of point 1.
What is required is ongoing understanding of the evolving customer and technical environments, understanding of the evolving risk environment and the commitment to categorize, quantify and ensure that the risk exposure is consistent with the organization's underlying objectives.

Organizations should also manage the risk exposure of the individuals generating and using the data. Incentives should be created to make investing in risk management mutually beneficial both for those generating the data, those using the data and all others profiting from it. Legal framework for managing risks for employees is beyond the scope of this post. Please seek professional legal help for it.

Credits