What makes cloud backup and recovery an enticing option? Rob May highlights the main benefits and lists the main things to look for in a cloud provider.
The gathering, processing and storage of business data has changed dramatically in recent years, and the big data movement is just getting started. The volume of data has increased exponentially; according to IBM, 2.5 quintillion bytes of data are created daily. With this influx of data, more businesses are embracing cloud models – whether public, private or hybrid – forcing IT teams and the partners that serve them to manage data across cloud, virtualized and on-premises infrastructures, introducing a complexity to data protection that never existed in the past.
In the midst of rising data volumes, IT complexity and consumer demand, many enterprises are also leveraging cloud technology for backup and recovery services, and as an integral component of their overall redundant data protection strategy, they’re turning to managed service providers (MSPs) for assistance with their cloud and business continuity needs.
What makes cloud backup and recovery an enticing option? From an economic, security and logistical perspective, the following benefits emerge:
- Affordability: With cloud, companies don’t need to invest in new infrastructure or maintenance expenses. Further, some cloud providers bill companies based on a monthly fee, making the cost of cloud backup through a partner predictable.
- Flexibility: Cloud backup is easy to implement, user-friendly and accessible from just about anywhere. The inherent scalability of the cloud makes it easy to adjust usage with demand.
- Security: With a purpose-built cloud specifically designed for backup and business continuity, the security levels are extremely high. Not only is a company’s data encrypted and protected, but these providers also build in redundancy to make sure full data recovery is possible.
What to look for in a cloud provider
No two cloud providers are alike, and for the best experience with cloud-based backup and recovery, companies should seek the following characteristics from their cloud provider:
- Support and service 24/7/365: Rarely does a disaster occur on a Tuesday at 1 pm. Instead, IT teams are likely to spend their nights and weekends dealing with outages and system failures, and when cloud provider support is needed in the early morning hours, having someone on the line is important.
- Consistent, predictable billing: Because the cloud model lends itself to this level of billing stability anyway, backup cloud providers should have no problem giving customers a consistent, transparent monthly invoice, regardless of the bandwidth used.
- A purpose-built cloud: For the best in data protection, businesses should partner with an MSP that leverages a purpose-built cloud from its vendor. A cloud designed specifically for the backup and recovery function has redundancy, security and support to reinforce business continuity and the backup function.
Due to the big data renaissance, the data protection marketplace has undergone enormous changes, and there are more on the horizon. A recent FCC report that redefined the standard broadband download speed from 4Mbps to 25Mbps has vast implications for backup and protection operations. Now, companies with massive data sets can take advantage of cloud data protection, including redundant, second-site backup, without bandwidth constraints or high prices.
As the data protection industry matures, there will continue to be changes that benefit customers and provide better backup and protection services than ever before. Meanwhile, customers should seek industry players or partners that can provide the best in backup, service and support to ensure the highest level of protection for their data.
The author
Rob May is senior vice president of business development for Datto, where he’s responsible for expanding the company’s cloud-to-cloud backup business. Most recently, May was the founder and CEO of Backupify, which Datto acquired in December 2014. /
