Ensuring continuing compliance with industry and regulatory requirements may be a challenging undertaking, especially in a fast-changing environment. The rapid evolution of the IT landscape, including the cloud, has exponentially increased the number of organizational touchpoints that are subject to compliance. How cloud computing helps improve compliance.
How to Improve Compliance with Cloud Computing
Cloud computing can serve as a powerful enabler in working towards compliance. It can be a key driver in improving compliance across an organization, which can ultimately help businesses avoid heavy penalties and potential reputational messes. Here are five ways that cloud computing might make compliance easier in your company.
Offering Greater Control
There was a time when maintaining software updated and consistent across numerous devices, workplaces, and systems was a big and continuing chore. These days, it’s a lot easier thanks to the rise of cloud computing.
When your organization employs cloud-based software, you have an unparalleled amount of control over what is installed, executed, and accessed on corporate devices. You may set up controls to guarantee every device in your firm is utilizing current versions of compatible software and therefore greatly simplify compliance.
Many cloud computing suites boost compliance by offering monitoring services to warn you when settings have been modified or security standards are broken. These active monitoring systems remove human mistakes from the compliance reporting process, as well as boost your overall level of security.
Automating Data Archiving and Record-Keeping 
Additionally, cloud computing promotes compliance by expediting the record-keeping process. Record-keeping and notification are governed by a slew of legal regulations. With the correct technologies in place, record-keeping may be performed automatically, freeing up personnel to focus on other parts of compliance.
For instance, some cloud software can archive data automatically, working with and adhering to your company’s archiving and retention policies. Such software can instantly remove data that is past its retention period, moving it to a secure, remote location, and notifying appropriate personnel of the action.
Employing cloud archiving software may assist you to boost compliance by automating this process. In addition, such a system may make your organization’s compliance policies easier to follow by automating the archiving process.
Cybersecurity at Scale
The cybersecurity features supplied by cloud service providers often exceed those available with traditional business network infrastructures. Cloud service providers, who specialize in offering trustworthy solutions for various levels of network setups, data storage, and remote access, place a high value on both physical and digital security.
The improved cybersecurity that comes with using a cloud service provider puts you one step closer to meeting regulatory requirements on an ongoing basis.
Cloud service providers have hundreds of clients, so they likely already provide services and features that can help you satisfy your unique compliance needs. It is in the interests of cloud service providers to follow industry standards and maintain numerous networking and security certifications for their clients.
This includes anything from a firewall for online applications to multi-factor authentication features. Implementing any one of these solutions on your own systems would be a substantial undertaking, but for cloud providers, the process is a lot more accessible and predictable.
Staying Ahead of Changes
Cloud service providers are compelled to keep a step ahead of technology advancements, new security risks, and changes in regulatory requirements. It’s like having a whole team of forward-thinking industry experts at your disposal just because you’re working with a cloud service provider.
When a new security danger appears, cloud service providers will be among the first to be aware of it and offer a remedy. By the time modifications are impacting the mainstream, a new solution will nearly always be in the process.
Cloud service providers are also in an excellent position to help you stay on top of changes to regulatory compliance requirements. Staying on top of the regulatory changes can be challenging, but cloud service providers are typically up-to-date on the newest requirements, standards, and guidelines.
Access to Compliance Expertise
Compliance requirements can change quickly, and it’s challenging for many organizations to keep up. Cloud computing solutions make it simple to access compliance expertise so that you can ensure compliance.
When choosing a cloud service provider, you should make certain that the provider offers access to compliance experts that can help you with any compliance issue or cybersecurity threats you encounter. For instance, if your network is breached, your cloud service provider should be able to help you determine the root cause of the problem and perform a comprehensive remediation plan.
These experts also can help you with any unique compliance issues you experience. For instance, if you need help developing and maintaining SLAs, your cloud service provider can offer the resources to help you meet those requirements.
Cloud Computing Helps Improve Compliance
Compliance is a complex matter, but cloud computing has the potential to simplify it. By investing in technology, automating compliance processes, storing data reliably, remaining secure, and remaining current with evolving technologies, cloud computing solutions may make the compliance process much easier for your organization and enhance your security.