Why Companies Are Shifting to Cloud Backup

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Cloud Computing

As the need for data storage and backup increases exponentially from year to year it creates a significant challenge for businesses. Since data is the most valuable asset for most organizations, it’s not only important to have adequate backup for digital information, but it’s also important that data be accessible whenever needed and it must be kept secure from threats. Also, because company budgets are tight, organizations are seeking to consolidate technology rather than expand it. Given these facts, the strategy of continually buying more storage devices is not feasible.

For most businesses, especially smaller ones with less than 500 employees, the preferred solution is to move data backup to the cloud. By adopting this strategy, companies eliminate the hassles of data backup without relinquishing control, and usually with reduced costs. Read on to learn about the primary reasons that most companies are switching to cloud backup.

Reduced IT expenditures

According to Gartner, a leading research organization in IT research, the number one reason cited by CIOs for shifting to cloud backup was cost. By moving the backup to a cloud vendor, a company saves on a variety of costs, including space, energy, computer hardware, software, and maintenance. Plus, backup operations are automated and streamlined, which provides additional savings on personnel costs.

Enhanced Security

According to research by the Ponemon Institute, the average cost for a data breach is $3.79 million. Many small and medium-sized businesses do not adequately invest in protecting data. Cloud backup vendors offer a variety of security features to protect data such as encryption, password management, digital signatures, adaptive protection and agentless backup technology. A good cloud backup service provides proactive and adaptive protection against security and privacy breaches on a continuous basis.

Ease of Scalability

As data storage needs continue to grow rapidly, scalability has become crucial for many businesses. By using a cloud backup service, companies need not worry about hardware upgrades, increased maintenance costs, or additional space requirements. There are also no concerns about server sprawl, data sprawl, or business interruptions that result from adding new hardware, network infrastructure or software upgrades. Most cloud vendors are willing to scale with a company’s data growth while ensuring that data remains readily accessible.

Data Recovery

It is essential to have access to backed up data whenever needed. Cloud backup vendors provide a variety of options for data recovery and have a state-of-the-art infrastructure that ensures backups and restorations are done quickly and efficiently. These procedures can be done through an intuitive, one-step, point-and-click interface. Some vendors also offer bare-metal recovery, which restores drives that have been destroyed by natural disasters or corrupted software.

Regulation Compliance

One of the major concerns companies have about their data relates to regulatory compliance issues. In the event that a company must provide documents or records to demonstrate compliance, data often needs to be accessed quickly. Some on-site solutions like tape backup can delay data access for days, which could be potentially disastrous in a critical situation. Cloud backup services prevent these disasters by providing fast access to data whenever it’s needed and by providing templates that suggest the recommended backup plans for each industry recommended backup type and frequency such as HIPPA, PCI, etc.

Manage Duplication of Files

A major reason for inefficiency in many organizations is overly-duplicated data. For example, a video or PowerPoint presentation, when worked on by over a dozen employees, could end up being backed up many times, which unnecessarily burdens your company’s system. A cloud backup service can offer solutions that compress and eliminate unneeded duplicates, only backing up changed or new data, thereby resulting in greater efficiency and organization.

Given all the advantages listed here, it is apparent why the majority of organizations are making the switch from traditional on-premises technology to cloud backup services.

To learn more about cloud backup technology, or to find out how to leverage a variety of other IT solutions for your business, contact us today.

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