TALKING

Cloud risk is no longer limited to data breaches or technical resilience. It increasingly encompasses strategic and financial considerations.

Eventual consistency, on the other hand, allows for a more relaxed approach. Data updates propagate gradually throughout the system, meaning some users may temporarily see outdated or incomplete information. This model may work well in sectors where immediacy is less critical( content delivery or some retail environments) but it introduces delays and uncertainty that security teams must manage.

The principle is simple: never get so entrenched in a provider that leaving becomes impossible. Or, to borrow from the 1995 film Heat,“ Don’ t let yourself get attached to anything you are not willing to walk out on in 30 seconds flat if you feel the heat around the corner.” It may be a Hollywood line, but the underlying advice holds, particularly when vendor dependencies threaten organisational agility.

The consistency conundrum

However, beyond contracts and costs, there is the more technical( and equally critical) challenge of maintaining security while ensuring efficient data synchronisation across clouds. This is where CISOs must make decisions grounded in the business’ s core objectives and risk tolerance.

At the heart of this decision lies the trade-off between strong consistency and eventual consistency. Strong consistency ensures that data is updated immediately and is accessible in real time across the entire system. No gaps, no delays. For highly sensitive or time-critical environments( say, financial services) this is nonnegotiable. A bank processing multiple transactions, for instance, cannot afford latency or duplication.

Choosing between these models isn’ t just a matter of technical preference. It’ s a strategic decision that must align with the organisation’ s core operations, compliance obligations, and appetite for risk. The key task for CISOs is to identify where strong consistency is essential and where eventual consistency may be acceptable, and then architect the multi-cloud environment accordingly.

Ultimately, consistency is fundamental to resilience. Without it, a multi-cloud strategy risks becoming a patchwork of blind spots.

The path forward

The answers for CISOs lie in designing for flexibility and portability from the outset. By adopting application platforms that are built to operate seamlessly across multiple cloud environments, organisations can regain control over their infrastructure. These platforms enable consistent security policies, reduce integration complexity, and most critically, ensure that data and workloads remain portable.

Rather than being locked into a single provider’ s ecosystem, businesses gain the freedom to shift workloads as needed, whether for cost, performance, regulatory, or strategic reasons. At the core of this strategy is the principle of interoperability.

Platforms that support open standards, and which are designed to function across diverse cloud systems, offer CISOs the ability to enforce a consistent security posture without sacrificing the benefits of a multicloud approach. This reduces the risk of misalignment between environments and closes the gaps that attackers so often exploit.

Equally important is ensuring that any platform adopted does not artificially restrict data mobility. Providers that allow customers to retain control over their data and move it freely across environments, are essential partners in building true operational resilience. The goal is not to avoid complexity, but to manage it intelligently. With the right frameworks in place, CISOs can navigate the challenges of a fragmented cloud landscape, striking a balance between security, agility, and long-term freedom of choice. p

36 INTELLIGENTCIO EUROPE www. intelligentcio. com