Getting to the Point: Solve Cloud access security issues with the TNS

Earlier, I kicked off my cloud discussion with a look at some of the different cloud definitions in circulation. Since then, a number of additional descriptions have risen to the surface, but it’s safe to say that they’re all very similar. On this same topic, McKinsey released a report, “Clearing the Air on Cloud Computing,” that sparked a tirade in many of the cloud groups on ‘why they shouldn’t quit their day jobs’ as management consultants. Either way, I’ve not seen a topic spark such debate in years. This has to be a good thing.

“Security” is the first of five concerns called out in the Open Cloud Manifesto. The “concern” reads:

Security
Many organizations are uncomfortable with the idea of storing their data and applications on systems they do not control. Migrating workloads to a shared infrastructure increases the potential for unauthorized access and exposure. Consistency around authentication, identity management, compliance, and access technologies will become increasingly important. To reassure their customers, cloud providers must offer a high degree of transparency into their operations.

It’s reassuring to continue to see this issue front and center. A high degree of transparency, authentication, identity management, compliance, and attention to issues around access technologies will become increasingly important in the cloud. After all, enabling secure authentication, identity management, compliance, access and transparency is what Rohati provides.

The validation for what Rohati delivers doesn’t stop in the manifesto. The recently formed Cloud Security Alliance has identified 15 areas of concern for cloud security, included among the 15 is also Identity and Access Management.

Consistent authentication, ID management, compliance and IAM are very real security concerns. Cloud vendors and enterprises utilizing private clouds need to not only provide for all four of these critical security functions but also prove to their customers and auditors that these security needs have been met. Only then can they get on to the more critical function of selling the benefits of their systems or extending them across their organizations.

I know there are times to be “vendor neutral” when postulating ideas and outcomes, this isn’t one of them. Rohati’s TNS is a practical solution that can solve these problems at a fraction of the cost of what you would pay for a more traditional software-based technology.

With Rohati’s TNS appliance, cloud providers and cloud services consumers — public and private — can ensure that their clouds are powered by technology that enables:

· High performance scalability that meets the authentication and ID management demands of constantly changing enterprise populations
· Creation of secure zones and enforcement of granular access policies
· Authentication and authorization from multiple directories across multiple clouds
· Transparency through accurate audit logs for comprehensive visibility into who is doing what on the network
· Simplified administration from a single network console

There might have been a time in the history of IT when it was prudent to hesitate on a solution purchase until after a problem became obvious and mainstream — this is no longer the case. Rohati’s TNS deploys fast, can be in production within hours and delivers measurable ROI. Solving the cloud services access security issue is no simple task. Rohati has taken an innovative approach that will keep IT teams, auditors, the CFO and application development teams smiling in the face of a very complex and rapidly changing set of deployment challenges.

/shane