Skyhigh Networks Registry Eliminates CSP Comparison Guesswork

Evaluating comparable solutions to find the best fit can be difficult and time consuming — and the cloud services are no exception. To help evaluate the options, Skyhigh Networks has instituted its CloudTrust Program. This program examines cloud services based on criteria developed in cooperation with the Cloud Security Alliance (CSA).

Skyhigh’s registry contains information on more than 16,000 cloud services providers (CSPs). The company has a dedicated Services Intelligence team that reviews and updates sources including public-facing company information, real-time news feeds, adverse security events, and questionnaires sent to cloud service providers themselves.

CSPs receive a CloudTrust rating on more than 50 attributes in data, user/device, service, business and legal categories. For example, evaluations in the data category include encryption and multitenancy and in the user/device category, anonymous use policy and identification federation methods. Other examples of attributes evaluated include penetration testing and known service compromise history in the service category, service hosting locations and compliance certifications in the business category, and jurisdictional location and dispute resolution in the legal category.

CSPs that meet the most stringent requirements are considered “Skyhigh Enterprise-Ready.” Only 10 percent of the 16,000 CSPs in the registry have this designation. There is no cost for qualified CSPs to participate in the program —it’s not “pay for play” — so those relying on the ratings can be assured they are objective. To update a rating, CSPs must submit documentation with evidence of the change.

With security as a concern — and in some cases even a barrier — to cloud services adoption, the Skyhigh program, now adopted by more than 85 CSPs and more than 450 enterprise customers, serves as an objective way to measure a CSPs ability to meet enterprise needs. Western Union and Equinix are among the companies that make the CloudTrust program a part of their evaluation process.

Skyhigh’s program can help VARs, managed services providers (MSPs), and other IT solutions providers overcome customer objections related to security —reducing the sales cycle and closing deals faster. The company reports that one partner uses the CloudTrust Enterprise-Ready seal as prescreening for their own partner ecosystem.

For the most current list of participants in the program visit https://www.skyhighnetworks.com/cloud-trust-program/