Enterprises looking to cloud providers for help with security: Google-IDG study

According to the study, even as businesses amp up security initiatives and preventative measures, security risks and concerns remain one of the top pain points impeding innovation (33%) and they want a cloud provider that can help them proactively fight threats. About 30% of the respondents surveyed globally said they accelerated and newly added IT security tools during the COVID-19 pandemic.

As many organizations are facing a broader attack surface than ever before, they are looking to cloud providers for support with security, says a new Google-commissioned study by IDG that highlights the role cloud-based security solutions are playing in helping keep customers safe in today's ever-changing security landscape.

In the report titled "No Turning Back: How the Pandemic Reshaped Digital Business Agendas", a survey of 2,000 Senior IT leaders was conducted by IDG, in collaboration with Google Cloud. The report shows that enterprises are more ready than ever to embrace cloud security.

According to the study, even as businesses amp up security initiatives and preventative measures, security risks and concerns remain one of the top pain points impeding innovation (33%) and they want a cloud provider that can help them proactively fight threats. About 30% of the respondents surveyed globally said they accelerated and newly added IT security tools during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Here are the key findings of the report:

• Despite skepticism in the past, the majority of IT leaders are now comfortable with using cloud-based security solutions.
• 28% of IT leaders look to cloud providers to actively support them in mitigating security risks and concerns.
• For these organizations, the ability to use cloud services while controlling access to data was the most required infrastructure security and compliance feature from a cloud provider.
• Confidence in the security of cloud infrastructure is extremely high with 85% of respondents saying their cloud infrastructures are as secure or more secure than their on-premises infrastructure

The report also provides insights on sustainability, suggesting that organizations are feeling pressure to make their operations more energy-efficient and greener due to both external and internal factors. A whopping 90% of respondents reported that sustainability is a priority and/or a performance metric for their IT departments.