Make sure your cloud computing provider takes proper measures to secure your company data and any applications that are used in the cloud. While providers have an obligation to do this for their clients, a review should be done to confirm that your expectations on cloud security are being met.

Companies and providers need to ensure that all critical company data is masked and that only authorized users have access to it. They also need to ensure that individual identities and credentials are protected. At the same time, they must be aware of, and comply with, company compliance procedures, as well as laws relating to data protection in the markets they operate in.

Any applications that are accessed via the cloud also need to be secure. Additionally companies need to work with their providers to make sure any computers that are used to access data in the cloud are secure and that all access is documented.

When choosing a provider, make sure they have data continuity and data recovery plans in place in case the worst case scenario happens and their systems crash, which could render all of your data inaccessible and, in rare case, unrecoverable.