Synology, a network-attached storage appliances (NAS) company, has warned organizations of the risks of using the public cloud that may not only lead to cost more but may also do damage to security.

In a media release, the firm cited as an example the service disruption Gmail and Google Drive users experienced in March when users could not send emails or had trouble uploading and downloading attachments. It also quoted the Cloud Readiness Index 2019 where it says that the Philippines is among the countries in the Asia-Pacific that has yet to “mature” in terms of cloud adoption.

With this, Synology, also IP surveillance and network equipment provider, urges organizations to turn to private cloud architecture not only for security but also for quick response should the network experience trouble.

This is despite conglomerates and medium-sized companies relying on the cloud for as much as 80 percent and 40 percent of their workload, respectively. About 30 percent of small enterprises use some form of cloud. Although more businesses, including SMEs, are willing to consider moving to the cloud, connectivity issues hinder such companies from actually expensive making the shift, especially with the Philippines still having the slowest internet in the APAC region according to Global digital agency ‘We Are Social’ and Hootsuite.

For its part, Synology’s NAS provides file sync services, collaboration suite, corporate communication application, mail services and high availability services simultaneously, helping businesses minimize the risks and losses caused by public cloud services anomalies.

According to Chad Chiang, product manager at Synology, the threshold of deploying public cloud services is lower than that of a private cloud’s, but the losses caused by service disruptions resulting from public cloud anomalies will be considerable.

“In this case, businesses are strongly advised to establish a private cloud system in order to ensure maximum service uptime and master data autonomy,” Chiang said.

Jenn Yeh, product marketing manager at Synology, pointed out that relying solely on public cloud is not a good idea.

“It is just like putting all eggs in one basket,” she said. “The best practice is to back up data on the public cloud to a local NAS in order to protect valuable data such as mails, contacts, calendar and cloud drive. This approach enables businesses to obtain the latest data and provide uninterrupted services to customers should there be an abnormality in the public cloud. It also equips businesses with tools to prevent employees from accidentally or maliciously deleting data and saving data for audits.”