The emerging Cloud Dilemma:balancing innovation with cross-border privacy and outsourcing regulations

The pervasive adoption of outsourcing and Cloud technologies proceeds apace, but the challenges and risks inherent in Cloud arrangements are causing concern amongst regulators globally. How well prepared are financial services multinationals for regulatory compliance? Cloud based Fintech companies are disrupting traditional banking models, signaling that highly regulated firms must adopt Cloud technologies. The paper focuses on understanding specific risks in relation to Cloud adoption, and the regulations and penalties for non-compliance being put in place. From the findings, we theorize a framework for deciding when to engage strategically with, or avoid Cloud technologies. This helps executives balance the need to innovate with the need to manage compliance risk. We then detail emerging effective practices for managing Cloud based innovation on a sustainable basis. While we focus on global financial services, the analysis applies to all regulated industries, wherever Cloud based innovations impact materially on business-critical services.