UAE organizations have made strong progress in the transition to the cloud, ranking as the second-highest adopter of public cloud services globally. However, there is still much to be done to ensure the data they have moved to the cloud is protected, compliant, and available. This is according to data protection company Veritas Technologies which unveiled the results from its international cloud survey launched at Gitex Global 2022.
Veritas has found that more than half (53 percent) of UAE organizations do not have full visibility of their data.
On the other hand, 56 percent agreed that relying only on their cloud service providers’ security tools puts their organization at risk. Meanwhile, 40 percent reported financial loss due to paying ransom to cyber attackers.
Johnny Karam, Managing Director & Vice President of the International Emerging Region at Veritas Technologies, said: “The UAE is a global hub for digital transformation, so we’re not surprised that the nation is leading the charge when it comes to public cloud adoption globally. Yet, as each new solution is introduced into an organization’s technology stack, it adds more complexity, making it easier for errors to be made and for systems and data to be left unprotected and open to attack.
“For businesses to continue on an upward trajectory of growth, they need to prioritize the protection of their data across these new and complex multi-cloud environments. We look forward to connecting with customers at this year’s Gitex Global 2022 to demonstrate the resilience needed to navigate multi-cloud environments, digitally transform their data protection management, and protect themselves against cyber threats.” Johnny Karam added.
Half of UAE respondents believe cost savings are a top benefit of using cloud service providers. 45 percent because of increased flexibility, and 44 percent because of data security benefits – such as cloud-native data security.
According to the research, 53 percent have only “some visibility” or “limited visibility” of their data. Of these organizations, only 55 percent have a fully effective tool that provides this visibility.
“To properly protect their data, businesses need to have a thorough understanding of the value and location of their data. IT teams need to know exactly what data sits in which cloud services,” Karam concluded.
