Governance for PaaS Environments

Managing complex cloud environments can become a challenging task without proper governance. In recent years, Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS) environments have gained popularity as they offer flexibility, scalability and ease of use for development and hosting applications. Governance in the PaaS environment is essential to control costs, maintain security and ensure compliance with regulations. In this post, we will analyze the impact of cloud governance on PaaS environments.

The impact of Governance on PaaS environments

Governance in PaaS environments can be categorized into three domains: Financial, Security, and Control. We will analyze each of these domains to understand their importance in PaaS governance.

Financial Governance

PaaS providers offer customizable pricing models to meet different business requirements. Financial governance in PaaS is essential to keep control of cloud costs. It enables companies to forecast costs, optimize resources, and track expenses. By analyzing the usage patterns, companies can right-size applications and resources, reducing the total cost of ownership (TCO) of the cloud infrastructure.

According to a recent survey conducted by Flexera, 83% of companies identify cost savings as the primary driver for cloud governance. Implementing financial governance strategies can lead to significant cost savings. A well-governed PaaS environment can lead to cost savings of up to 35% (Flexera).

Security Governance

Security is a significant concern in cloud environments. PaaS environments offer enhanced security features such as identity and access management, encryption, and network security. Security governance in PaaS ensures that the security controls are in place, vulnerabilities are identified, and the security policies are adhered to. By monitoring and analyzing the security events, companies can implement preventive measures and respond to incidents in a timely fashion.

According to a report by Gartner, by 2025, the majority of cloud security failures will be caused by customer misconfiguration (Gartner). Proper security governance practices can prevent misconfigurations and significantly reduce the risk of security breaches.

Control Governance

Control Governance in PaaS environments refers to the processes and policies that ensure proper functioning and adherence to compliance regulations. PaaS providers' compliance certifications ensure adherence to industry-specific standards such as HIPAA, SOC2, and PCI-DSS. Control governance ensures that the company's policies are in sync with PaaS provider standards and industry regulations. It enables companies to monitor and enforce compliance policies, reducing the risk of violations.

According to Flexera, implementing control governance can reduce audit costs by up to 45% (Flexera). By adopting control governance strategies, companies can achieve faster compliance and reduce audit fatigue.

Conclusion

Governance in PaaS environments is necessary for efficient and secure cloud operations. Financial governance enables companies to forecast costs, optimize resources, and track expenses. Security governance ensures that security controls are in place, policies are adhered to, and incidents are prevented. Control governance ensures compliance with industry regulations and standards while enabling faster compliance and reducing audit costs.

By implementing effective governance policies and strategies, companies can gain visibility, control, and cost savings in their PaaS environments.

References

• Flexera, Cloud Governance Takes Shape as IT Budgets Shift to Cloud, 2020.
• Gartner, Cloud Security: Misconfiguration Is a Leading Cause of Breaches, 2019.