We're taking a look at how you can secure your business's future with cloud services and how security threats can seriously impact your business.
Moving to the cloud has changed the way organisations handle infrastructure, but for highly regulated sectors like finance, it’s never been a straightforward leap. It comes with serious scrutiny, and a long list of requirements to meet before any workloads can safely be moved off-prem.
Financial institutions face some of the most demanding regulatory expectations when it comes to cloud, covering everything from data access to disaster recovery. That means the way cloud environments are set up, monitored, and secured needs to satisfy both internal risk teams and external regulators.
But cloud security compliance isn’t only a technical requirement, it’s a matter of trust, and reputation. Firms are expected to protect sensitive data, stay transparent, and prove they have full control over where and how their systems run. Falling short doesn’t just mean a fine. It means losing credibility, and possibly customers, too.
What cloud compliance really demands
Every industry faces regulation, but in financial services, the bar for cloud compliance is significantly higher. There’s no universal checklist, but certain principles always apply – security, visibility, and resilience.
In the UK, financial institutions are expected to meet both FCA and PRA standards. That includes the Operational Resilience Framework, which asks firms to identify their most important services and make sure they can withstand disruptions. Cloud platforms are part of that equation. If they fail, business stops.
Then there’s the wider regulatory backdrop like GDPR, ISO standards, and now PCI DSS 4.0, which is fully in effect. The recently implemented Digital Operational Resilience Act (DORA) is also reshaping expectations across the EU. While it doesn’t apply directly in the UK, many financial institutions with cross-border operations are aligning with its standards to stay ahead of rising resilience and cloud oversight requirements. These frameworks aren’t just names to drop in a policy document, they define how data is stored, who has access, how it’s protected, and how systems are expected to recover when things go wrong.
For financial firms, meeting cloud security compliance requirements means keeping a close eye on third-party risk, maintaining a full audit trail, and knowing exactly where data is stored, even across different regions. It also means having a recovery plan that actually works, not just one that looks good in theory.
Why compliance isn’t a one-time fix
Meeting requirements for cloud services isn’t something you sort out once and forget. It’s ongoing. Especially in finance, where regulators want assurance that systems are secure, recoverable, and under control day in, day out.
For example, when a financial firm adopts a cloud platform, it needs more than a provider who meets the minimum. It needs one that offers transparency, full access to logs and controls, and well-documented processes that stand up to inspection.
Understanding the shared responsibility model is also crucial. Some security tasks sit with the cloud provider. Others fall to the customer. That division isn’t always clear, especially in hybrid setups, and misunderstandings can lead to serious gaps.
Cloud compliance isn’t a solo effort
For any organisation that’s regulated, particularly in finance, compliance needs to be built into cloud infrastructure from day one. That means choosing a partner who knows how to work within those boundaries and doesn’t treat compliance as a side project.
At Pulsant, we work closely with financial services clients to help them meet cloud compliance requirements without compromising performance. Our ISO-accredited data centres and in-house cloud experts support secure, flexible environments that meet industry standards and make audits easier to manage.
Because in the end, compliance isn’t just a technical hurdle. It’s proof that you’re doing things properly, and that you can keep doing them, no matter what.
