Are my third-party applications protected in the cloud?

Are my third-party applications protected in the cloud?

One of the key misconceptions of cloud computing is about cloud service providers responsibilities. With many organizations assuming that the SaaS provider is responsible for ensuring application continuity, data availability, application security and regulatory compliance.

Unfortunately, that’s not the case.

The reality is, each time you onboard a new third-party SaaS vendor, you’re introducing an added element of risk to your organization.

Find out here why the cloud may not be resilient as you think

In a SaaS environment, the security, data and infrastructure are all outside of your control. This means that it’s you who will be held accountable when a SaaS vendor suffers insolvency or experiences a technical outage, not your vendor.

What are the risks of moving to cloud?

• Multi-tenant architecture security - The lack of data isolation in a multi-tenant cloud infrastructure makes it a prime target for attacks. If anybody hacks into one tenant’s database, the privacy, and data of any other tenant in that same environment may also be compromised.

• Cloud Compliance - The high degree of concentration in the CSP market means that any IT outage or hack of critical third-party services could cause a severe, wide-scale impact. Try not to become over reliant on your third-party vendor and apply the appropriate controls and processes regardless of whether your service provider delivers proof of compliance with relevant regulations.

• Outsourcing applications to third-parties - Organizations believe their cloud service provider (CSP) is responsible for business continuity and protecting data. But it is you as the end-user, that is responsible for backing up and restoring whatever data you store in their services. Hence the term “Shared Responsibility Model”.

How do you mitigate cloud risk?

To mitigate cloud risk, software customers must consider how they would operate if they lost access to a business-critical application due to third-party vendor failure.

That’s where SaaS Escrow comes in.

Software Escrow for SaaS applications includes legal agreements and source code validation services – enabling end-users to access, redeploy and maintain a third-party application and critical data swiftly and accurately.

SaaS Escrow agreements

A SaaS Escrow Agreement protects a SaaS end-user’s third-party software license agreement by storing source code, critical data and other important cloud materials necessary to support an application in the long-term.

NCC Group stores this material in highly secure vaults and ensures that the material can be accessed and released when it’s needed.

Download a SaaS Escrow agreement

SaaS Escrow verification

SaaS Escrow Verification is implemented to strengthen the SaaS Escrow Agreement. Only with Software Escrow Verification testing can you ensure that your Cloud Business Continuity plan and vendor Exit Strategy actually work.

It validates the accuracy and usability of the materials held under the agreement and gives the SaaS end-user the knowledge required to execute their exit plan accordingly.

The technical documentation produced following the verification enables the end-user to redeploy and maintain the third-party SaaS application, without additional support from the SaaS vendor.

Download a SaaS Escrow verification report

Key takeaways 👇

• Don’t assume application continuity and resilience is handled for you by your SaaS vendor. Even if the vendor has a robust and well-tested business continuity strategy, this will only cover events that impact the provision of the service while the vendor survives. It will be useless if the software vendor disappears or otherwise goes out of business (for example, due to an event of insolvency or through an acquisition).
  
  
• Don’t become over reliant on your software vendor. You are responsible for backing up and protecting your data. Proactively assess the risks of data and application loss and take reasonable steps to minimise the risks of this loss occurring by implementing a Cloud Escrow Agreement.
  
  
• Having a business continuity plan is one thing - but testing the plan to ensure it is effective and can be executed successfully is critical. Cloud Escrow Verification testing validates the accuracy of the materials required to support the application to ensure an end-user can continue to operate a SaaS application in the software supplier’s absence.