Cloud backup saves hours of unnecessary admin and lost data

October 9, 2017|
Natasha Spencer|
News|
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What is Cloud Backup?

We’ve surely all had it happen to us at least once… You’re tapping away at an important document to reach an impending deadline when the work just seems to disappear. Losing critical business data can waste hours, lead to downtime and reduce productivity.

Cloud backup prevents this modern day nuisance from taking over your business. It provides a swift, reliable and affordable way to access your data when you need it. Acting as your own online archive, you can backup individual files, complete folders or entire hard drives, with just a network connection.

Cloud backup, sometimes called online backup or cloud computer backup, is a protective measure to support the identification, accessibility, and most importantly, retention of data.

It works the same way as when we change our phone. For ease, when we set our phones, we can save all of our contact information to an online account. This simple step then ensures it has automatically backed up. Once we upgrade to a new phone, or if we lose the old one, these numbers move across instantly. It is the same with our computer data.

Cloud backup for enterprises

For SMEs and large organisations, enterprise cloud backup can offer a comprehensive and advanced backup solution with additional features including data archiving and disaster recovery.

In some companies, this level of protection is vital and necessary to satisfy legal requirements for data retention. It also acts as a safe and reliable element of a disaster recovery plan, if events such as a hacker attack, employee theft, a fire or flooding were to impact the business.

“IT teams are under extreme pressure to improve backup, disaster recovery and data protection to eliminate downtime and facilitate digital transformation,” Technology media company, TechTarget Custom Media, revealed in its recent whitepaper entitled The 3-2-1 Data Protection Rule and Hybrid Cloud Backup.

Of those asked, 84% of IT decision makers stated that they experience an availability gap. As a result, they wish to improve backup and recovery times to alleviate the costs, resources and risks associated with lost data and unintended downtime.

Following this growing concern, cloud storage services are implementing the 3-2-1 data protection rule as a best practice. This approach states that businesses should:

3: Keep at least three copies of data and applications, which covers one copy of produced data and two backups.

2: Store data on a minimum of two different forms of storage media, such as a disk and tape. This helps to overcome the potential vulnerabilities of each i.e. ransomware that can impact critical data.

1: Retain a single backup copy in an offsite location. This will avoid a total loss scenario caused by natural disasters.

While this approach on first glance appears to move away from cloud backup, the 3-2-1 data protection rule helps enterprises gain peace of mind through a sophisticated and multi-layered approach.

Advantages: How cloud backup can boost your business

Cloud backup provides a host of security, time-saving, accessibility and affordability benefits to businesses of all sizes.

Affordable

Without an uncapped IT budget, it is vital that cloud backup does the job without breaking the bank. Hosted backup provides a reliable, practical and reassuring solution that meets small businesses expenditure allowances.

Hardware and software, tapes and servers are commonly used to complete a backup. Overall, however, cloud backup can be more cost-effective than spending out on this equipment. The media used to securely store data, upload time, and the resources needed to manage and fine-tune the systems all eat into the cost of looking after your own cloud backup. This is where a trusted provider can benefit your bottom line by saving time and offering a budget-friendly solution.

24/7 Remote Access

Customers can access, read, edit, download their data (if permissions are granted) at any time and at any location. All they need is an internet connection via a computer or smartphone app.

Cloud backup, therefore, offers unrivalled convenience compared with office-based data access. Despite transportable devices like external hard drives enabling on-the-go availability, these also require a level of physical handling.

Our time is precious and who likes wasting it on unnecessary and trivial administrative tasks? Your information can be saved straight away once a network connection has been established – saving both you and your customer time.

Safety

By utilising the cloud, you are protecting your business from the risk of physical and unavoidable natural disasters such as fire, floods or theft. Encrypted servers can also store the data to reduce possible security risks. Be sure to check this at the outset to see if any further cloud security solutions could support cloud backup protection.

Reliability

A trusted provider can equip you with modern and cutting-edge technology including backup, encryption and compression capabilities. Proactive and comprehensive monitoring, managing and reporting features are also part of the service. The team takes care of any upgrades, migrations or troubleshooting on your behalf.

Recovery

With a cloud-based backup system, it is simple and straightforward to access data. A cloud backup service can identify and locate multiple saved copies if data is accidentally deleted or lost.

An efficient and tested approach to recovering and restoring data must be available to maximise the speed of recovering data. This type of assured cloud backup solution can restore this lost data from any location, at any time.

Costs, Scalability and Infrastructure

Cloud backup can leverage existing infrastructure. It saves you capital expenditure on buying or installing costly equipment and enables you to scale your business. The software easily integrates with IT landscapes to identify and label backup files. These can then communicate this information to data centres. On the whole, this saves spend on the operating, administrative, purchasing and maintenance costs of tape backup systems.

Smart resources

By protecting your business against data loss, resources are freed up to address vital strategic efforts, goals or challenges. This fosters a business data culture that evolves and reflects modern-day organisational and IT needs. Cloud backup reduces downtime, improves productivity, creates peace of mind and injects a proactive culture into the working environment.

Secure Safeguards

Data security s a big concern for many businesses, with cybersecurity, hackers and ransomware at the forefront of many business owners worries. A central repository provides reassurance by optimising available safeguards to enhance data security. It also enables businesses to identify data using geo-technology and gives them the potential to wipe data remotely.

Cloud backup growth

In a new market research report, the digital transformation market is tipped to be worth $493.39 billion (€419.67 bn) by 2022. In its findings released on 20th September 2017, the Digital Transformation Market by Component…. Global Forecast to 2022 revealed that the “cloud segment is expected to witness the highest growth rate during the forecast period”.

Also data backup, the growing demand for disaster recovery and rapid migration to cloud-based services are “driving the growth of the data centre interconnect market”, the Data Center Interconnect Market ...Global Forecast to 2023 report indicated.

Released in August 2017, the report shows that the Data Centre Interconnect (DCI) market was valued at $3.19 billion (€2.71 bn) in 2016. It is expected to reach $6.41 billion (€5.45 bn) by 2023, representing a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 10.04% during this period.