Humanity collectively creates 2.5 quintillion bytes of data daily, presenting incredible opportunities for organizations—especially those who collect it in the cloud. Cloud-based data offers excellent insights for organizations, including a meaningful look at customer needs and operational improvements.

However, these benefits come with risks, especially regarding security. According to IBM Security’s latest “Cost of a Data Breach Report,” the average compromise now costs organizations $4.35 million, which doesn’t include the loss of trust and credibility that can take years to build.

That’s where Azure Confidential Computing (ACC) comes in, a new solution launched by SAS, our strategic partner Microsoft and chipmaker AMD. With it, IT leaders can offer better cloud data security than traditional on-premise solutions. Keep reading to learn more about the Azure Confidential Computing solution, its benefits and why it matters to organizations.

What is Azure Confidential Computing for SAS® Viya® on Microsoft Azure?

Azure Confidential Computing enables the isolation of sensitive data while it’s being processed in the cloud. It defends and encrypts data in use with confidential virtual machines (VMs) based on AMD EPYC™ CPUs featuring AMD Infinity Guard Secure Encrypted Virtualization-Secure Nested Paging (SEV-SNP) technology. This helps protect data in memory against hackers, unauthorized third parties, and even Azure operators.

The offering of Azure Confidential Computing for SAS Viya on Microsoft Azure is another evolution in our ongoing partnership with Microsoft. Some of the exciting benefits for existing and prospective SAS Viya on Azure customers including:

• Migrating your most sensitive SAS® Viya® workloads to the cloud: SAS Viya on Microsoft Azure customers can expect up to 204% ROI and a payback in 14 months compared to keeping their SAS Viya instance on-premises. With ACC for SAS Viya, you can now migrate your most sensitive SAS Viya instances to Azure and enjoy those cost savings.
• Build-ons for existing integrations: Microsoft and SAS bring over four decades of expertise in respective enterprise and analytics innovation. Azure Confidential Computing provides another integration that already includes support for implementing business rules, IoT streaming integration, and high-performance computing that can be run anywhere.
• Compliance with government and industry privacy regulations: Retailers, financial services firms, and healthcare providers all must comply with various privacy regulations when they migrate customer data to the cloud.

Azure not only protects data at rest and in transit. With confidential computing, it also protects data in use, thus helping to ensure the privacy of data from creation to deletion. If security for your data is keeping you from the cloud or preventing you from going all-in, Azure confidential computing for SAS Viya on Microsoft Azure can be transformational for your organization. Not only is it cost-effective, but it also offers protection of sensitive data throughout its lifecycle.

Want to know more? Visit here to learn about the Microsoft and SAS partnership.