At this point, there is no shortage of cloud computing advocates highlighting the technology's commercial potential. But just as cost control and competitive differentiation are leading business priorities, so too is risk management. Most importantly, that means protecting sensitive data as it migrates between environments.

Although cloud security truths can seem hard to come by, some of the best educational resources are actually progressive firms attempting to push the envelope in highly regulated industries such as finance and healthcare. While the dynamic potential of the cloud could be particularly powerful in these settings, executives are also aware of the grave danger that could follow hasty decisions.

As a result, those in the know review all of their current data security and compliance standards before initiating their migrations. According to Government Health IT, the strength and integrity of administrative, technical and physical safeguards must be held up against industry regulations as well as internal business interests. While some standards may seem laborious at the time, they can help companies establish a more detailed outline of the stops that must be accounted for on their cloud roadmaps.

Once in-house practices and policies have been addressed, the focus must shift to the company's prospective business partner. The crucial first step, according to Government Health IT, will be acknowledging the cloud provider's role as an active participant in the overall security strategy. The majority of service level agreement default to a rather limited level of liability for the cloud provider. As a result, customers must be willing and able to assertively negotiate terms which clearly delineate the security protections they expect in return for their service subscriptions. Since the vendor's team of administrators will have access to customer data, proprietary and sensitive data should be encrypted prior to turning it over to the vendor.

A cooperative vision
Once cloud customers are certain that they have the right vendor in the room, the two sides must come together to map out a shared vision for the future. Naturally, the process will begin with data owners outlining a business case for their new storage strategy. Capacity demands and similar operational variables must be weighed against data risks to ensure companies are moving forward for the right reasons - and bringing the right assets into the cloud environment.

Once they have an idea of what they'd like to see, cloud providers can respond with an outline of which objectives they can realistically address and how they will do so. According to Network World, data owners cannot afford to simply forget about day-to-day maintenance now that the burden will soon be off their backs. Instead, they must ask the tough questions and ensure those that are being entrusted with the task of guarding sensitive business assets know how to respond in every scenario.