Data Storage: From Then to Now & What’s Still Needed Ahead

- Becca Bauer

Data storage has in fact been around for hundreds of years and has gone through a number of changes before arriving at the cloud storage era we have currently arrived at. Starting in the 1720’s, punch cards were introduced and eventually became the first tool for data storage and recording. Since then data storage has gone through a radical evolution including the introduction of magnetic tape and then the first hard drive invented by IBM in 1956. This was followed some 20-30 years later by the introduction of floppy disks, CD-ROM and DVDs. Next, the USB flash drive arrived on the scene in 2000 and dominated storage from several years until cloud storage entered the market and was debuted by Amazon Web Services in the early 2000s and took a major hold in 2006. Since then, the use of the Cloud has become increasingly popular for data storage and brings us to the present-day climate.

While there are many clear benefits to moving the Cloud, there are also several flaws revealing themselves that indicate the storage market is in need of a continued evolution. For example, recent studies are indicating that moving storage from in-house to the Cloud won’t achieve cost savings unless the storage needs are fully assessed, and anticipated savings are planned out. In fact, over-estimating storage capacity is one area that can make a dent in the savings. While estimating a higher capacity can secure better cloud storage rates from vendors, if you don’t have enough data to meet this higher capacity, you are essentially paying for unnecessary and wasted space.

Another major challenge to the current cloud data storage model is data security. Most organizations turning to cloud storage solutions hold a mix of data that often includes sensitive and protected personal information in their databases that they have a responsibility to keep protected, such as PHI (Protected Health Information), PII (Personally Identifiable Information) and GDPR (Global Data Protection Regulation). Unfortunately, current database systems can encrypt stored data, but this encryption is carried out in a way that anyone (human or machine) that has access to the system at any administration level generally also has access to the plain unencrypted data. This design flaw leaves a “come get me” sign that has led to many diverse organizations becoming victims to data theft and losing millions of dollars.

So now that we have highlighted what is missing from the current cloud storage systems, what is the solution?

Enter BOHH Labs introducing the next phase of data storage, Secure Data as a Service (SDaaS) that puts a focus on both the actual security of the data and removes wasted spend with a storage consumption model. SDaaS acts as a layer between the user/application and the back-end data store and enables total security on all your stored data, without changing the data structure, while making certain data points visible only to those with the correct permissions. Whether this is in a database or a document, the BOHH SDaaS enables full use of data without the security concerns. This solution uniquely offers database or specific field level security that businesses desperately need. All data that needs to be secured is removed from the source, encrypting it and storing it separately without changing the structure, enabling prioritization and control over sensitive data such as PHI, PII or GDPR. We do this because it stops the inside hacking job and it also enables companies can choose which data to store with full knowledge of data confidentiality/ sensitivity. This kills the flaws within the current storage market and enables stored data to be securely opened to the Cloud, without putting it at risk of breach.

All of this is done without impacting user accessibility and it is introducing secure storage as a consumption-based model, rather than the current

Stop Throwing Away Money on Data Storage (Even When Moving it to the Cloud)

- Alan Jamieson, BOHH Labs VP of Business Development

Does moving your data center storage to the Cloud (Private/Hybrid) help with saving operational costs on increasingly challenged IT budgets?  For most people, this is an automatic answer, yes; however, recent studies are indicating that moving storage from in-house to the Cloud won’t achieve cost savings unless the storage needs are fully assessed, and anticipated savings are planned out. This is alarming, and you may ask why?

Firstly, capacity planning is an issue: how much do we need today and in 12 months’ time?  Over-estimating storage capacity is one area that can make a dent in the savings. While estimating a higher capacity can secure better cloud storage rates from vendors, if you don’t have enough data to meet this higher capacity, you are essentially paying for unnecessary and wasted space.

Secondly, while over 80% of data centers have the storage capacity in-house, it is difficult to do routine checks, so when looking to switch and invest in Cloud storage, companies often don’t have the whole picture and can be making a choice that is often not financially beneficial. The fixed costs (electricity, cooling, licenses and maintenance) of running a data center and any spare storage or processing capacity is often overlooked when formulating your cloud migration/deployment strategy.

The volume and variety (structured and unstructured, regulated data etc.) we are collecting is increasingly on an annual basis.  Data is now seen as a business asset with new Chief Data Officer roles in enterprise accounts being created, but are we realizing the value of the data assets we have?

From research done by Jonathan Koomey in late 2017, only 25% of companies would save money if they transferred their server data directly onto the Cloud, whereas 75% would see an increase in annual costs. However, all the sample group would save if the companies migrated after quantifying out how much server space they need. This unnecessary Cloud storage spends costs companies around the world an estimated $62 billion annually.

If we step back from the cost of storage, the other important and increasing challenge for global companies is extracting the value from data that is stored in the Cloud and often is not accessible.  With the massive amount of data being produced daily, operational cost challenges are pushing companies to store data over 12 months or even more recent too soon. The world has become analytically focused; however, insight is only gained when data over a significant number of years is analyzed to extract the insight to achieve greater operational efficiencies, greater insight in how to retain your customers and how to improve the quality of manufactured parts.

Another research report puts the cost of Cloud waste at about 35%. So, for every dollar spent on Cloud resources, you only get $0.65 investment value. Now that we have addressed how companies are losing money, below are six ways your company/department can alleviate some of the wasted

Cloud spend:

1. Identify and retire abandoned applications – why store what is no longer needed?
2. Choose the right storage model – What is needed today and plan.
3.  Right-size instances – Invest in only what is needed.
4. Perform licensing audits – Do your software vendors enable your licenses to be used in the Cloud at no extra cost?
5. Automate server usage for peak/off peak hours – only pay the Cloud provider for services that are needed.
6. Pay upfront – Looking at license options could save more than purely monthly subscription fees.

While the global market is focused on enhancing how data is stored and embracing the benefits of making a transition to the Cloud, having a clear idea of want storage is needed and how often you need to access your data will ensure that you select the most cost-effective model for your business.

How to Flip Data Security into a Driver for Cloud Adoption, Not an Inhibitor

It’s no secret the Cloud brings enormous advantages to companies and the way they interact with data. Cloud environments offer companies the ability to share, store and access data from anywhere on any device at any time. As such, more companies are embracing digital transformation and integrating cloud services to their architecture strategies to enhance business agility, efficiency a new revenue stream, and let’s not forget the cost savings in terms of operations, personnel and technology updates.

To meet these demands, big data centers want to be able to open data access to the Cloud, yet organizations hold sensitive and protected personal information in their databases that they have a responsibility to keep protected, such as PHI (Protected Health Information), PII (Personally Identifiable Information) and GDPR (Global Data Protection Regulation) data that is held within them. Unfortunately, current database systems can encrypt stored data, but this encryption is carried out in a way that anyone (human or machine) that has access to the system at any administration level generally also has access to the plain unencrypted data. This design flaw leaves a “come get me” sign that has led to many diverse organizations becoming victims to data theft and losing millions of dollars.

This puts current data centers at a conundrum – Cloud-based data storage will help facilitate better use and collaboration of data housed, but the sensitive nature of the data and risk of breaching these compliance regulations is challenging adoption.

Security is still the most important concern for customers wanting to give Cloud access to their data stores. Now that we’ve seen how important data security is, what if you flip the switch and provide complete protection of Cloud data storage?

Strong risk management and data integrity systems can help companies avoid breaches and better manage disruption to operations, turning strong data security into a driver not an inhibitor for embracing Cloud environments.

But how does this work?

Enter Secure Storage as a Service. While the market has various related offerings: public Cloud, IaaS, PaaS, etc., secure data storage is not available. BOHH Labs is introducing a Bring your own storage (BYOS) capability which offers databases or specific file security that businesses desperately need. This enables on premise deployments to actively prioritize applications, databases or infrastructure to a lower cost, and secure cloud deployment without impacting user access.  Companies can choose which data to store with full knowledge of data confidentiality/ sensitivity.

Our solution removes the sensitive data from the source, storing it separately, enabling prioritization and control over sensitive data storage. This kills the flaws within the current storage market and enables stored data to be securely opened to the Cloud, without putting it at risk of breach, flipping the switch on data security making it a driver, not an inhibitor.