Ensuring Effective Risk Monitoring and Timely Response for Organizations Utilizing External Cloud Services

A.

The BEST way to address the concern of risk monitoring and timely response for an organization that uses external cloud services extensively is to ensure appropriate service level agreements (SLAs) are in place.

Service level agreements are contractual agreements between the cloud service provider and the organization that specify the level of service to be provided, including availability, performance, security, and response time. SLAs help ensure that the cloud service provider is meeting the organization's requirements and provide a basis for monitoring and reporting on the provider's performance.

SLAs can also specify the process for handling security incidents and other incidents that may impact the organization's use of the cloud service. This can include procedures for reporting incidents, investigating incidents, and responding to incidents.

In addition to SLAs, it is important to ensure that internal security standards are in place. These standards should include policies, procedures, and controls for securing the organization's data and systems, as well as monitoring and responding to security incidents.

A right-to-audit clause in contracts can also be useful for monitoring the cloud service provider's performance and compliance with security and other requirements. However, this alone may not be sufficient to address the organization's concerns about risk monitoring and timely response.

Continuous technical support is important for ensuring that the organization has access to expertise and assistance when needed. However, it is not the BEST way to address the concern of risk monitoring and timely response.

Therefore, the BEST way to address the concern of risk monitoring and timely response for an organization that uses external cloud services extensively is to ensure appropriate service level agreements (SLAs) are in place, along with internal security standards and, if possible, a right-to-audit clause in contracts.