Challenges in Cross-Organizational Security Management

Many organizations hoping for cost savings and higher flexibility consider consuming services from service providers or combining such services with services offered organization-internally. Organizations, however, often renounce from the expected advantages due to security and compliance concerns. The key challenges leading to these security and compliance concerns in cross-organizational settings have not yet been discussed elaborately in scholarly literature. However, a thorough understanding of the underlying challenges is necessary in order to find ways to compensate them and, in consequence, tap into the full potential of the cloud computing model. This paper discusses challenges gathered by means of guideline-based interviews. The identified challenges comprise managing heterogeneity, auditing clouds, coordinating the parties involved in cross-organizational settings, managing their relationships, coping with the lack of security awareness, and localizing and migrating data. Potential research avenues are discussed for each challenge.