Cloud-based WMS security: key questions to ask before you buy

A cloud-based warehouse management system must be highly secure. Find out what you need to know before investing in a solution.



What makes a good cloud-based warehouse management system (WMS)? Well, it has to provide inventory visibility, warehouse tech integrations and data analytics. It should be easy to install and easy to use. But none of this matters if your WMS isn't secure.

Why? Because your WMS is a storehouse for all the data you hold – and that data needs to be handled carefully.

There are two main reasons for this. First, a data breach can give your reputation a knock, scaring off customers and stakeholders alike. Sure, it's a storm that can blow over – but it's a storm that any company could do without.

Secondly, data breaches can be penalised – and we're not just talking about an academic slap on the wrist. We're also talking about fines under GDPR and other regulatory frameworks.

These two reasons combine to make a powerful argument for doing your due diligence before investing in a cloud-based WMS. Fail to ask the right questions and you could be putting your customer data at risk.

What questions do you need to ask? Let's find out.

Is its cybersecurity up to scratch?

Cybersecurity is no joke. In 2025, the UK government reports, 43% of businesses and 30% of charities "reported having experienced any kind of cybersecurity breach or attack… This equates to approximately 612,000 UK businesses and 61,000 UK charities".

It's now a truism to say that cybersecurity is everyone's responsibility – from the policies implemented by management down to the actions taken by individual employees.

And included in "everyone" are the software providers you work with. In the case of a cloud-based warehouse management system, you need to be sure that the vendor has put in place measures to protect against cyber threats and unauthorised access.

Without these guardrails, you risk putting your reputation at risk – and paying for the pleasure in the form of a fine.

It should be clear by now why you need to go into any discussions with a WMS vendor armed with questions. These could include:

• Is your data encrypted both at rest and in transit?
  
• Where is your data stored and who owns it?
• What happens to your data if the contract is terminated? (Under GDPR, it must be deleted.)
• Do the provider's data centres comply with GDPR or another region-specific set of regulations?
• Does the WMS support multi-factor authentication?
• Can employee access to the system be restricted for certain job roles?
• What happens in the event of a breach? How will you be notified?
• What is the uptime SLA?
  
  

Once you have answers to these questions, you're in a position to decide whether this vendor has your best interests at heart.

It's important, however, to note that attitude is as important as answers. Perhaps one aspect of a vendor's security posture isn't quite optimal. This isn't the end of the world. But a bad attitude when it comes to answering questions certainly is.

To put it simply: if a vendor doesn't want to answer a question directly or deflects with high-sounding jargon, it's time to take your custom elsewhere. Clear lines of communication are essential when your data – and your clients' data – is at stake.

That's cybersecurity – so, how about compliance? While the two areas are intimately related, they require a different set of questions to ensure you're up to speed.

Is it built for compliance?

These days, compliance isn't a good-to-have – it's a must-have. And while there are ethical arguments for compliance, there's also the overriding fact that data breaches and leaks are punishable with fines under GDPR.

This means you should always ensure that your cloud-based warehouse management system is compliant with industry standards and regulations. These differ from region to region but are equally important wherever you are.

These standards will cover the security of the data stored within the WMS – in particular, any sensitive information relating to your inventory and your customers.

Compliance is a technical business. For the customer, it can seem as arcane as cryptocurrency or Gen Z slang. A reputable vendor will always do their best to make compliance simple for you. As with cybersecurity, a vendor who hides behind jargon is one to dodge.

You don't need to know everything about compliance to ask the right questions. In some cases, you don't even need to ask questions to know you're in a safe pair of hands. You simply need to establish whether theyknow what they're talking about.

Compliance credentials should be easy to find and easy to read on any WMS vendor's website. If they're not immediately to hand, they should be available on request. These are seals of approval that mean a lot at a time when compliance is costly, complicated and well within your interests.

But if you want additional assurance that your WMS vendor has compliance at heart, here are three questions to ask:

1. Is your WMS compliant with SOC 2 Type II? (You don't necessarily needto know what this covers. It's enough to know that it demonstrates to clients that a business's security measures actually work.)
   
   
2. What other security certifications do you maintain? This should be available and easy to read.
   
   
3. Can you provide a copy of your most recent third-party penetration test? This is a simulated cyberattack carried out by a security firm to identify weak spots in an organisation's IT infrastructure.
   
   

As with cybersecurity, the answers to these questions are important. Equally important, however, is the vendor's willingness to help. Without that, you might as well buy your WMS from a veiled man in a dark underpass.

Are you looking for high-performance and high-security cloud-based warehouse management software? At Minster WMS, we take cybersecurity very seriously. Book a demo today to learn how we can make your data more visible, more useful and more secure.