Choosing the Right Cloud Security Provider: Five Non-Negotiables for Protecting Your Cloud

Protecting your cloud environment for the long term involves choosing a security partner whose priorities align with your needs. Here's what you need to know.

As organizations embrace multi-cloud and hybrid environments, the complexity of securing that landscape increases. However, the overlooked risks may not come solely from threat actors. Choosing a security provider that has conflicting priorities can also introduce risk. The best cloud security program is built on independence, transparency and aligned priorities around your security needs. Here are five critical considerations for choosing the right security provider to protect your organization - and your cloud strategy - for the long term.

1. Checks and balances are essential

Your cloud security provider should be your second set of eyes - not the same entity responsible for your infrastructure. You lose critical checks and balances when your cloud provider is also your security vendor. No company can be entirely impartial when tasked with policing itself. Keeping security independent from infrastructure ensures risks aren't overlooked because they conflict with a cloud service provider's product roadmap, revenue model or strategic priorities.

2. Visibility is power - be careful who you give it to

Many security vendors see everything - your configurations, vulnerabilities and even metadata about how you use various cloud services. That visibility is necessary for protection but can become a competitive lever in the wrong hands. Ask yourself: does this vendor have other lines of business that benefit from knowing how I operate - for example, do they compete in cloud infrastructure, data services or AI/machine learning platforms? Your cloud security provider should be focused solely on protecting you - not gathering intelligence that could inform sales strategies elsewhere on how to upsell you.

3. Priorities shift - will yours still matter?

Many cloud security platforms promise broad, multi-cloud support, but priorities change. What happens when future product development leans toward one specific cloud environment? Will integrations with your preferred platforms lag? Will support or feature enhancements begin favoring certain clouds over others? Choose a partner whose roadmap aligns with your needs - not one that might shift with changing corporate objectives.

4. Plan for portability - don't get trapped

The cloud is dynamic, and change is difficult and expensive for organizations. Don't commit to a vendor that locks you into a specific cloud ecosystem or makes it costly to adapt as your business evolves. The best partners enable flexibility. They make it easy to scale, shift or change providers without risking your security posture - or budget.

5. Securing the cloud means more than just "cloud security"

The time for solutions that are solely focused on cloud security is coming to an end. As security threats continue to evolve, exposure management - which requires understanding business risk across all facets of the organization - should be the goal. Any security product that you adopt must be flexible enough to fit into your broader exposure management strategy. Additionally, most large organizations are operating a hybrid cloud environment, which requires visibility into the entire attack surface. As we all know, threat actors know no boundaries - all your bases must be covered - from cloud to operational technology to clients and more.

What the right cloud security provider looks like

When evaluating cloud security vendors, prioritize those who are:

• Truly cloud-agnostic - no ownership or influence from any cloud provider
• Focused solely on security, not selling you infrastructure
• Research and security innovators, with an established track record
• Equipped to protect multi-cloud and hybrid environments equally well
• Transparent about product roadmaps and priorities
• Committed to your long-term flexibility and control

Cloud security is too important to entrust to anyone whose priorities aren't fully aligned with yours. Choose independence. Choose neutrality. Choose a partner whose only job is to protect you - wherever your cloud strategy takes you next.