Cloud backup strategies and techniques are nothing new to the world of data management. Without belabouring that obvious fact, the world’s increased movement to cloud-based data solutions for every element of data-intensive activity is having a real effect on the increasing shift to cloud backup solutions.
The forces converging to drive every kind of enterprise and organisation into cloud resources are similarly motivating the movement to cloud backup specifically. Certain cloud backup advantages are also influencing IT managers to integrate cloud backup capabilities into hybrid IT implementations.
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Cloud Efficiency Effects
An Inc. magazine article from last summer outlines three reasons that define how cloud solutions drive efficiency and how they’ll shape enterprise IT going forward:
- Innovation—Cloud is the computing architecture of the future. In three years, Intuit predicts 80% of all small-business computing will live in the cloud. Cloud technology is driving open-source innovation ahead faster than conventional server solutions. Competition among cloud providers is bringing previously high-end technology to every segment. Innovation such as data reduction was once only available in top-shelf storage systems. Now, software-defined data centre (SDDC) technology brings advanced features to everyman platforms.
- Agility—Successful companies innovate faster and more efficiently. A cloud strategy delivers the lowest cost, most scalable IT infrastructure. By moving to cloud solutions, companies can focus on core strengths and competitive advantages rather than infrastructure investments. The cloud helps you manage remote offices and scale operations seamlessly.
- Cost Optimization—The emergence of a public cloud architecture created a framework that was the very definition of a system built to optimise utilisation and maximise resource efficiency. But now that innovation is available for hybrid cloud solutions. Low-cost, open-source technology is available; expensive, proprietary technology is under pressure.
Why Cloud Backup?
Without mission critical data, whether that is financial or technical, a company is lost. It’s essential to have modern and dependable systems in place to protect essential business information. Sophisticated cloud backup solutions have emerged as secure and cost-effective data protection options for businesses of all sizes. Six common cloud backup advantages follow that illustrate how this approach can benefit IT orgs:
- Lower total cost of ownership (TCO) — Cloud backup technology leverages the cloud’s economy of scale and the replacement of on-premises equipment. Cloud backup can integrate into existing IT infrastructure for complete protection of all data, securely transmitting encrypted backups to the cloud. The benefit? A lower TCO compared with owned, onsite strategies.
- Reliability and recovery speed — Modern hybrid-cloud, data-protection solutions can instantly bring backup data to life as cloud virtual machines. Managed service providers can help establish recovery time objectives and recovery point objectives that match business requirements.
- Data security — Modern backup vendors perform data encryption before the data leaves the device. A unique encryption key generated by the backup software stays with the user, preventing unauthorised access to data even if the system is breached.
- Protection for cloud data — Conventional data protection packages do not protect cloud-based workloads such as Microsoft Office 365. As more businesses adopt cloud-based services for their ease of use and pay-as-you-go licensing, protecting data in the cloud will become a standard requirement for any business.
- Protection against ransomware — Encrypted backup data stored in the cloud are less likely to be susceptible to ransomware attacks. Even though cyber criminals are trying to attack backups, backed-up data stored in the cloud with reputable vendors are protected against such attacks. When on-premises systems are hijacked by ransomware, cloud data may end up being the only lifeline available.
The trend in data protection and backup is into the cloud. The benefits are real, as are the threats to data integrity from external (and sometimes internal) breaches and system failures. The best backup solution is one that you do not worry about. With the wall of data, evolving threats, and emerging AI-based computing landscape, it’s essential to deploy backup solutions that meet needs now and scale as needed. The best solutions don’t just offer cloud backup as an option but anticipates and addresses emerging needs. That means they can accommodate hybrid cloud and hybrid IT environments today with a complete, secure backup capability—one with advanced security measures, such as ransomware protection, integrated into the solution framework.
Nikolay Grebennikov is Vice President Engineering at data backup and storage experts Acronis, managing the engineering team across three contents. A graduate in Computer Science at Bauman Moscow State Technical University, he spent five years at Kaspersky Lab, progressing to the position of Chief Technology Officer. Following roles at Sberbank and Wonder-Will, Grebennikov joined Acronis in 2015.