EU Agency: Careful adoption of cloud services beneficial for governments

Both private and public managed cloud services are potentially beneficial for public administrations and governmental agencies, according to a recent report published by the European Network and Information Security Agency.

Government agencies that need to achieve a high level of data governance stand to benefit from cloud services, but need to ensure the proper security precautions are taken, the report said.

Given the growing popularity of cloud services, the report recommended businesses and government agencies prepare a cloud computing strategy and carefully plan their adoption of managed cloud services.

Udo Helmbrecht, executive director of ENISA, said government agencies should opt for private cloud services when dealing with sensitive data. "Public cloud offers a very high level of service availability and is the most cost-effective," Helmbrecht said. "Yet, currently its adoption should be limited to non-sensitive or non-critical applications, in the context of a well-defined cloud adaptation strategy with a clear exit strategy," he added.

According to a recent study conducted by Forrester Research, organizations adopting cloud services should adjust their security measures to meet the needs of a changed IT infrastructure.