What Is Cloud Governance?

Cloud governance is a natural extension of the larger area of IT governance and in most organizations, no distinction is made between the two. Cloud computing is where most organizational IT infrastructure has moved, and governance activities have followed. This chapter provides an overview of IT governance with a specific focus on cloud computing. It discusses keeping resources, particularly data, secure and then finishes with discussions of auditing and encryption key management considerations. A primary function of governance, particularly when overseeing cloud environments, is to ensure data security. Without a doubt, data breaches, losses, and corruption are the biggest, and most publicly damaging risk factors for many organizations. Of course, the best practice for cloud safety is to maintain due diligence. Keeping up to date on new security strategies and tools is important, as are being informed about recent data breaches and issues that resulted in these happening.