Cloud Compliance: Innovation in a Regulated Environment

In an era where change is constant, the race to innovation has never been more fundamental to success. Organizations are captivated by a relentless pursuit of speed to innovation, aiming to pioneer cutting-edge solutions. But at the same time, they also have to comply with the rigid necessity of their respective industry regulations and standards.

Cloud computing has transformed the IT industry, by offering an array of services ranging from Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) to Platform as a Service (PaaS) to Software as a Service (SaaS). These platforms range from core infrastructure and applications services to fully managed software as service delivery models. The use of these services provides businesses with flexibility, scalability, and cost-effectiveness.

Despite?all these advantages, compliance in cloud computing remains a concern. Enterprises across industries are required to follow various regulations and standards to ensure data security, privacy, and integrity. However, cloud environments can provide significant features that enable the controls required for security, compliance, and industry-standard needs.

It is essential for the organizations themselves to understand their own responsibilities in a shared responsibility model, where both the cloud provider and customer have roles to play in ensuring overall compliance.

According to the HyperProof IT Compliance Benchmark Report

"In 2022, 1 in 2 companies with 1,000-5,000 employees suffered a security breach, indicating that threat actors are as motivated as ever to gain access to lucrative and corporate data. 57% of surveyed organizations expect to spend more time on risk compliance management in 2023, as opposed to last year’s 35%. Additionally, 63% of survey respondents expect to spend more money on IT compliance and risk management, an increase from 45% in 2022. With security breaches on the rise and greater attention from the C-Suite and board on how to prevent them, companies are poised and ready to level up their risk and compliance management processes in the coming years."

Cloud compliance is about the ability of cloud service providers to offer clients the necessary components to achieve regulatory standards, and best practices in order to manage and secure data that is transmitted, stored, or processed, in a cloud environment. These regulations are enabled by industry-specific, certain regions, or a combination.

• Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council (FFIEC) for financial institutions. It is an agency in the United States that creates standards and principles to help ensure that financial institutions like banks, credit unions, and other lenders are safe, sound, and consistently supervised.
• National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) SP 800-53 provides a comprehensive set of security controls for federal information systems and organizations in the United States.
• Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) sets the rules for healthcare providers, insurance companies, and certain other entities on how to manage and secure personal health information.
• General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) , is a set of rules implemented by the European Union that gives individuals more control over their personal data.

As you can imagine the applications involved across the industries, have to comply with many industry standards controls, which are distinct, yet they overlap as well.

One of the most highly regulated industries is financial services. IBM Cloud for Financial Services is designed to help financial institutions modernize their applications, faster by mitigating risks and accelerating cloud adoption. A core feature of IBM Cloud for Financial Services is the IBM Cloud Framework for Financial Services . The IBM Cloud Framework for Financial Services is tailored to meet the requirements of financial institutions by assisting with regulatory compliance, security, and resiliency from the start of deployment and throughout regular operations. Additionally, the framework streamlines the process for financial organizations to engage with ecosystem partners that provide software or SaaS (Software as a Service) solutions, ensuring that these partners adhere to the framework's standards. The framework is updated and validated as required by the IBM Financial Services Cloud Council

In addition, IBM Cloud offers an “IBM Cloud Security and Compliance Center ” to achieve continuous security and compliance. This offering comprises a broad spectrum of compliance controls enabling businesses such as Financial Institutions to leverage innovative technologies while addressing the evolving landscape of international, federal, and industry-specific regulations. With IBM Cloud Security and Compliance Center, users can integrate daily, automatic compliance checks to help maximize compliance and minimize risk.

Security and regulatory compliance are a cornerstone of IBM Cloud’s strategy. IBM Cloud Compliance is at the forefront of harmonizing technological innovation with regulatory requirements. Automated tools for continuous monitoring, assessment, and improvement of compliance, enable businesses to keep pace with the regulatory environment.

IBM’s cloud offerings, its Cloud Security and Compliance Center, its underlying products, and integration with third-party standards, products, and offerings combine to offer clients a cohesive approach to security and compliance. IBM is a leader in security and compliance and offers significant flexibility in meeting clients in their cloud journey.