Is It Time to Get Your Head Out of the Clouds?

Cloud security. (Source: Shutterstock)

Henry David Thoreau famously urged us to build our castles in the sky, but always have our foundations on the ground. Personally, I think that’s a great dictum to remember as your credit union, regardless of its size, considers how best to manage the integration of technology into a cloud environment. On the one hand, cloud computing offers the promise of cost-effectively providing a host of technology for your employees and members, which can allow you to grow quicker. On the other hand, cloud computing presents unique risks and challenges of which your credit union must be aware of and, where possible, take steps to mitigate.

Because, as I like to say, I’m paid to be paranoid, I want to talk about some of the risks and how the growth of cloud computing places even more emphasis on understanding and delineating the respective legal responsibilities of your credit union and vendors.