The significance placed on geographical boundaries has been steadily eroded by the rise of the Internet, and more recently, cloud computing. Being able to access customers and services from all over the world certainly has its advantages, but it also poses certain problems. Even with the rise of globalisation, national borders are not quite meaningless, not yet anyway. The location of your cloud services remains highly important, which is why UK firms should remember to “buy British” whenever possible.
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Under the open market, businesses may be tempted to choose the cheapest cloud service provider, regardless of location. However, there are a number of advantages to going with a 100 per cent UK company – that is, a cloud provider hosted in the UK, with UK support.
Firstly, businesses may benefit from more reliable security by going with a UK cloud provider. An international vendor, for example, could leave your data susceptible to regulations that you, and your customers, may not be comfortable with. There have been a number of instances of foreign governments making requests to view data stored with cloud providers, most notably in the case of Edward Snowden’s NSA revelations. When businesses store their data with a cloud supplier located outside the realms of UK law, they have far less control over its security.
On-going court proceedings also suggest that even data stored on European servers may not be safe, if the company holding it is a US subsidiary. For example, the US government has requested access to data being held by Microsoft’s Irish branch – a request currently being contested by the US firm. The final outcome will no doubt be of interest to companies all over the world, but there is a simple way of avoiding the pressures of governments based in the US and elsewhere. By using a UK cloud provider, like zsah, businesses can be assured that there data is protected against external interference.
Similarly, the recent Safe Harbour fallout continues to leave data privacy in a state of limbo when it comes to using US-based cloud providers. The EU-US Privacy Shield is on the way, but has not yet been finalised. Under this cloud of uncertainty, British businesses can gain peace of mind by going with an EU, or better yet, UK-based provider.
However, opting for a British cloud vendor is about much more than just security. At zsah, we recognise that a reliable cloud service provider must be able to deliver first-rate support at all times. As such we constantly monitor your network to assess issues and address any problems before the user is affected. Our team is also contactable at all times should you experience problems with your cloud solution. Based in the UK, we have a robust understanding of the local cloud market and the needs of our clients.
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Zsah is a proud member of the UK cloud vendor community. Boasting some of the country’s finest technical and support staff we are able to offer customers all over the world a range of critical solutions, from Infrastructure as a Service to application hosting. Cloud computing may have changed many things about the way UK businesses operate, but the importance of “buying British” remains as great as ever.
Amir Hashmi, Managing Director, zsah Technology Group
Amir Hashmi is Managing Director of the zsah Technology Group.