The Business Need for Data Backup

Data backup can be time consuming and costly, making it a pain point for many IT managers.  According to IDC studies, the pace of data growth still exceeds 50% per year for most organisations.

• All of this data needs to be backed up and de-duplicated
• This is becoming an increasingly expensive and time-consuming task with traditional solutions
• Even with the rise of storage consolidation strategies and virtualisation, businesses are spending a higher percentage of their IT budget on acquiring and managing storage resources
• The high cost and drain on resources from data backup means that some organisations are cutting corners - increasing the risk of data loss and the associated issues of compliance

Data backup is a vital part of ensuring successful, ongoing business operations and something every organisation, big or small, needs to manage effectively.  Most businesses will at some point face the prospect of data loss, whether it be as a result of corrupt files, hardware failure, virus or spyware infection, or even theft.

Employing an effective data backup strategy will help your company to:

• Ensure compliance with data protection legislation / industry regulations
• Avoid significant financial loss through lost productivity or legal penalties
• Maintain your customers’ trust and loyalty

The Solution

There are several options when it comes to data backup, including tape, hard-drive and CD/DVD backup.  However, these traditional backup solutions can be expensive to maintain, time consuming, easily misplaced, stolen or damaged.  How your data is stored securely offsite is another factor for businesses to take into consideration. The most effective way to overcome these backup issues is to automate the whole process, by deploying a cloud-based service.

The Convenience of the Cloud

Cloud or online data backup allows users to send their data to be backed up to a remote site, without the associated cost of setting up and managing a remote data centre – which is extremely beneficial to SMEs looking to keep costs down.  Cloud storage providers have a cluster of highly scalable managed servers that can be used to store and retrieve any amount of data, at any time, from anywhere on the web.  All your business needs in order to use such a service is an Internet connection and sufficient bandwidth.

The Benefits of the Cloud

This solution has numerous benefits over traditional backup solutions. Cloud backup is convenient because the information can be accessed from any Internet-connected device, information can be more easily shared and digital information is easier to transfer, manage and retrieve.

• Efficiency and reliability

  • Disk-based backup, encryption, compression, data de-duplication and server and storage virtualisation are used to reduce storage and transfer requirements, making backup as efficient and as secure as possible.

• Scalability

  • Businesses can leverage unlimited scalability from a third party cloud provider and backup services can be configured to back up as much or as little data as needed, meeting the changing needs of the business.

• Improved recovery time

  • File recovery from online storage is faster; it doesn’t require physical transport from the offsite location, tape handling or seek time. Files to be recovered are located and streamed over the Internet connection, saving time.

• Accessibility

  • Offsite data copies are accessible from any Internet-connected device or location.  This provides an added measure of insurance in the event of a regional disaster.

• Automated backup

  • With cloud backup, administrators can set the schedule for how often backups should run throughout the day. This eliminates the risks associated with manual backup.

• Reduced infrastructure management

  • When using a cloud service there is no need to worry about upgrades, migrations or technology becoming obsolete. The burden of the backup infrastructure lies with the service provider.

Why work with Network Defence?

Most good cloud backup providers offer the above mentioned functionalities and benefits, but what else should be considered when choosing a cloud service and provider that’s right for your business?  Security, reliability and cost are most likely the top three factors you will take into consideration when choosing any service and Network Defence is ideally placed to help you make the right decision for your organisation.

A robust and secure business continuity plan is crucial for any company, regardless of its size, and as part of your business plan, Network Defence can help you to ensure that the right backup solution is implemented.  With the right solutions in place, which support regulatory compliance and best practice, you can not only overcome data storage and compliance issues, but can also help improve business efficiencies.

Contact us today to find out more and discuss your specific requirements

Network Defence’s Data Backup Partners­­

Backup with Barracuda­

The Barracuda Backup Service is an affordable data backup solution that provides full local data backups with several options for offsite data replication.  This service provides complete control over where data is stored.  For local backup, the Barracuda Backup Service offers a full line of backup servers to store data locally at different sized locations.  To prevent catastrophic data loss at any single location, the Barracuda Backup Service lets customers replicate backups offsite to the cloud, to their privately owned locations or a combination of both.

Download the Barracuda Backup Datasheet here