Cloud solutions may offer a significant added value with regards to the flexibility and scalability of services, the availability of data, the increased security for processing, costs and required resources.
However, you must consider the typical requirements and pitfalls associated with using cloud solutions. This will continue to affect also those areas which are out of the focus of the EOSC, such as an organization’s HR data management, accounting and procurement.
A major obstacle to using cloud services is the lack of knowledge about the details of the various cloud services (e.g. IaaS, PaaS, SaaS) and cloud platforms (e.g. Public, Private or Hybrid clouds) and the legal and regulatory obligations and restrictions (e.g. data protection law and special confidentiality obligations).
There’s also often a poor understanding of the coherent risks (e.g. loss of control over data, misuse of data, access by foreign authorities) and risk-mitigating measures (e.g. encryption technologies, such as encryption in transit and at rest; keep control over encryption key management) and financial aspects.