Three Key Cloud Trends Revolutionizing Unstructured Data Management

Through offering encrypted access and display of data to everyone, anywhere on the globe, the universal data repository is revolutionizing the way agencies handle their unstructured data.

Fremont, CA: The government's digital transformation efforts include the modernization of unstructured data processing. Agencies are using cloud technology to simplify infrastructure management, allow safe data collaboration across locations, and help ensure compliance in this context.

Here are three main trends revolutionizing unstructured data management:

Common data repository

The replication, presentation, and security of data have historically been the foundations of unstructured data management. The conceptual separation of the NIPR and SIPR networks and encryption and other security measures required by the FIPS 140-2 and FedRAMP standards have aided this.

The common data repository simplifies access control and data security by using an edge-to-core delivery model. Data generated or modified at the edge is replicated to the center and then to the other edge caching locations. Users will operate offline and then reconnect to sync files with the center. Above all, this form of repository allows multiple users to collaborate on the same data to support missions without manually synchronizing data or supervising uploads.

Infrastructure as code

If more agencies embrace cloud architectures, they'll need more efficient and cost-effective ways to distribute technology and resources across multiple locations around the world. Infrastructure as code is a template for ongoing configuration management that makes large-scale, distributed networks easier to maintain. IaC allows agencies to reuse code and maintain definition files for infrastructure in the same way they do for source code by enabling the automation of IT processes.

In addition to pace, automation helps ensure compliance by automating patching processes and providing consistent application delivery across the enterprise. For example, military organizations may use IaC to configure infrastructure for urgent missions. Even if the edge is disconnected from the heart, they can provide soldiers in the field with a technology stack that is implemented in an automated manner without snags or delays.

Zero-trust approach

Many agencies implement a zero-trust strategy for their technology and applications as they migrate to cloud networks that serve users at hundreds of edge locations. In today's cyber threat environment, zero-trust ensures that any access attempt, regardless of source, is checked.

By not implicitly trusting any customer, zero-trust cloud architectures boost on-premises network segmentation. Furthermore, the cloud introduces new structures that aid regulation, such as identity management, granular rules for resource access, and enforcing knowledge sharing between the application server and database. Beyond retaining zero-trust and network segmentation, agencies considering re-architecting for multi-cloud or switching to a DISA or FedRAMP model have a golden opportunity to implement technologies that promote zero-trust to improve their security posture further.