| | APRIL 20178CIOReviewDocument Management: Navigating the Crossroads between the Cloud and On-PremisesBy Sandy Jacolow, CIO, Silverstein PropertiesIn a world in which technology has shifted from supporting our business, to being our business, one of the greatest challenges a CIO faces, is striking a balance. Optimizing the benefits of innovation, adaptability, and productivity while managing costs, expectations, and perception weighs on every decision.Over the past several years, technology trends have become a major topic of conversation, and mobility, the cloud, big data and digital/social media are always at the forefront. While each of these platforms can influence aspects of a business, when they converge, their impact can transform the way we work generating both a tangible and intangible Return-On-Investment.At its most fundamental level, Document Management Systems (DMS) are how a business stores, manages, accesses, and monitors its electronic documents. Enterprise Document Management Systems (EDMS) are designed to impose controls and management capabilities onto otherwise "dumb" documents. Today's leading Document Management Systems have embraced this convergence, woven themselves seamlessly into the fabric of how a business works, enhancing productivity, and operating efficiencies. The overwhelming number of mobile apps and consumer-oriented cloud file sharing services that are inexpensive, easy to use, and accessible on any device, on demand, are fueling expanded Document Management System functionality.How does today's CIO strike a balance between integrating these impact technologies with a Document Management System, and addressing the need to be responsive and agile, while ensuring controls are in place to protect valuable corporate assets?Cloud versus On-Premises: SecurityDuring his keynote address at a recent NASDAQ CIO Cyber Security Forum held in New York, Eric Schmidt, the Executive Chairman of Google, stated that the only way to defend and protect against cyber-attacks is to encrypt data that is both at rest and in transit. He added that double authentication is a key component when it comes to protecting data from the human element. Simply put (and with few exceptions), cloud-based Document Management and File Sharing offerings fall short in user security and data encryption when compared to their on-premises counterparts. A major barrier to implementing a cloud-based Document Management System is the limited availability of Single Sign-On (SSO), facilitating password management and audit controls. If a Technology department is able to integrate their on-premises Windows Active Directory (AD) with cloud based Microsoft Azure Active Directory, they can provide employees with a common identity across multiple resources. This infrastructure architecture reduces the inherent risk associated with the human element, while streamlining account maintenance associated with personnel turnover-- for an IT department, this is incredibly important given today's exposure to cyber-attacks.In My Opinion
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