Final approval for accepting the associated IT risk should be obtained from the business sponsor.This is because the business sponsor is the person or group who initiates, funds, and owns the business case for the mobile sales channel project1.The business sponsor is responsible for defining the business objectives, benefits, and requirements of the project, and for ensuring its alignment with the enterprise strategy1.The business sponsor is also accountable for the outcomes and value of the project, and for managing the risks and issues that may affect its success1. Therefore, the business sponsor should have the authority and responsibility to approve the IT risk associated with the mobile sales channel project, as it may impact the business performance and value.

The other options, risk manager, chief information officer (CIO), and IT steering committee are not the best choices for obtaining final approval for accepting the associated IT risk.They are more involved in the identification, assessment, mitigation, and monitoring of IT risks, rather than their acceptance2. They may also have different perspectives and interests than the business sponsor regarding the IT risk associated with the mobile sales channel project. For example, the risk manager may focus on minimizing or avoiding IT risks, while the CIO may focus on maximizing or exploiting IT opportunities. The IT steering committee may have a broader view of IT risks across multiple projects and programs, rather than a specific one. Therefore, they may not have the final say or decision on accepting the IT risk associated with the mobile sales channel project.

The MOST concerning issue for the risk management committee when planning to migrate to cloud-based systems is regulatory compliance.Regulatory compliance refers to the discipline and process of ensuring that a company follows the laws enforced by governing bodies in their geography or rules required by voluntarily adopted industry standards1.For IT regulatory compliance, people and processes monitor corporate systems to detect and prevent violations of policies and procedures established by these governing laws, regulations, and standards1.However, migrating to cloud-based systems can pose significant challenges and risks for regulatory compliance, such as23:

Data protection, privacy, and sovereignty issues, as cloud service providers may store or process data in different jurisdictions with different legal and regulatory frameworks

Loss of control and visibility over data and systems, as cloud service providers may have different security standards, policies, and practices than the enterprise

Shared responsibility and accountability for compliance, as cloud service providers and customers may have different roles and obligations for ensuring compliance

Complexity and variability of compliance requirements, as cloud service providers may offer different levels of compliance certifications and attestations for different services and regions

Therefore, regulatory compliance should be of most concern to the risk management committee when planning to migrate to cloud-based systems. The risk management committee should carefully assess the compliance requirements of the applicable legislation in both the home and host countries, as well as the compliance capabilities and assurances of the cloud service providers. The risk management committee should also establish appropriate controls and mechanisms to monitor and audit the compliance status and performance of the cloud-based systems.

Data storage and transmission policies are documents that define the rules and guidelines for how data is stored, accessed, shared, and transmitted within and outside an organization.Data storage and transmission policies can help to ensure the security, privacy, compliance, and quality of the data, as well as to prevent data loss, leakage, or breach12.

If an enterprise has decided to utilize a cloud vendor for the first time to provide email as a service, eliminating in-house email capabilities, one of the IT strategic actions that should be triggered by this decision is to update and communicate data storage and transmission policies.This is because using a cloud vendor for email as a service may introduce new risks and challenges for data storage and transmission, such as data sovereignty, data ownership, data encryption, data backup, data retention, data deletion, data access control, data audit, data breach notification, etc34. Therefore, it is important to update the data storage and transmission policies to reflect the changes in the email environment and the cloud vendor's responsibilities and obligations.It is also important to communicate the updated policies to all relevant stakeholders, such as employees, customers, partners, regulators, etc., to ensure their awareness and compliance12.Reference:Data Storage Policy: Definition & Best Practices.Data Transmission Policy: Definition & Best Practices.Cloud Email Security: Definition & Best Practices.Cloud Data Protection: Definition & Best Practices.

Information ownership is the right and responsibility to define, classify, protect, and manage the data assets of an enterprise.When using a cloud-based application, the enterprise should ensure that it retains the ownership and control of its information, and that it complies with the relevant laws and regulations regarding data privacy, security, and sovereignty12.The enterprise should also establish clear policies and agreements with the cloud service provider and the internal and external parties regarding the access, usage, storage, transfer, retention, and disposal of the information12.By considering information ownership, the enterprise can mitigate the risks and challenges of using a cloud-based application, such as data breaches, unauthorized access, vendor lock-in, legal disputes, or reputational damage12.

The other options are not as important as information ownership, as they are secondary or dependent factors.Cloud implementation model is the type of cloud service that the enterprise chooses to use, such as software as a service (SaaS), platform as a service (PaaS), or infrastructure as a service (IaaS)3.Cloud implementation model can affect the cost, performance, scalability, and flexibility of the cloud-based application, but it does not directly affect the ownership and governance of the information3. User experience is the perception and satisfaction of the users when interacting with the cloud-based application. User experience can affect the adoption, engagement, and productivity of the users, but it does not directly affect the ownership and governance of the information. Third-party access rights are the permissions and restrictions that the enterprise grants to external parties to access and use its information through the cloud-based application.Third-party access rights can affect the security and privacy of the information, but they are determined by the information ownership policies and agreements that the enterprise establishes with the cloud service provider and the external parties12.

To address concerns about staff saving sensitive corporate information on publicly available cloud file storage applications, the first step should be to require staff training on data classification policies. Educating employees about the types of data classified as sensitive and the associated handling requirements helps to raise awareness and change behavior. Training should emphasize the importance of protecting sensitive information and the proper use of approved storage solutions. While creating secure storage solutions, blocking access to certain applications, and revising policies are important measures, education and awareness are fundamental first steps to ensure compliance and mitigate risks.