Cloud Computing is a persuasive business model for many organizations, especially those with remote offices or small-to-medium (SMB) businesses that are looking for cost-effective technology offerings. Analyst firms predict significant growth and use of the cloud for data storage; however, SMBs and start-ups are more likely to adopt these services into their IT infrastructures than large enterprises. This difference is in part due to cost of IT infrastructure and concerns regarding the security of this data. By using the cloud, SMBs are able to change IT costs from a capital infrastructure expense to an operating expense. Additionally, these companies are also turning to the cloud as a cost-effective method for data protection and disaster recovery (DR) services.
Disaster recovery and business continuity plans are key to the success of any company, so operations remain consistent even in the event of a natural disaster, pandemic or other event. Employees at remote or branch offices (ROBO) must be able to access business-critical applications and data regardless of what is happening at corporate headquarters. By using the cloud to store and protect data, companies not only reduce the cost of infrastructure, applications and overall business processes, they also gain affordable, reliable data protection that keeps applications available to employees 24/7. In addition to the large number of SMBs in the U.S., a high percentage of large enterprise sites in the U.S. are considered ROBOs, having little or no storage or backup experience or on-site IT support. Cloud backup and DR makes this vital IT function available as a service to all SMBs and ROBO sites with the simplicity and precision of turning on an Internet connection – and at a reasonable cost.
Several companies offer cloud-based data backup services to SMBs and enterprises, but not all of these services are comparable. SMBs and ROBOs need services that go beyond just protecting their employees’ files on individual computers; they require a service that will backup this data, but also provide full system disk images of every business-critical application and server such as ERP, Exchange servers, Web server, payroll, etc. This full-service DR and backup solution will grow and scale with the organization, may also be extended to larger enterprises and can be used within both public and private cloud infrastructures.
However, IT does face a number of challenges in using cloud storage services for data backup and DR, in particular:
- Mobility: information transfer to and from the cloud.
- Availability: assuring optimal business continuity
- Scalability: allowing the customer to pay only for what is needed and to expand instantly as needed.
- Data validation: ensuring the integrity of the data in the cloud at all times.
- Security: preventing security breaches and non-authorized data access and sharing.
- Economics: reducing capital and operating expenses without compromising the requisite quality of service.
Managed services providers (MSPs) are meeting these challenges of providing viable cloud storage by working with leading vendors and building a stable foundation on which to create their service offerings. Through their partnerships, service platforms are building on three key points: a fully virtualized storage infrastructure, a scalable file system and a compelling application that responds to customers’ urgent business requirements – such as backup and DR. This new service platform must be able to provide immediate verification of backed-up and replicated data to each customer at any time. It must also reduce the customer’s IT workloads significantly year-round and provide an ironclad guarantee or SLA agreement that data may be recovered at any time.
The ideal cloud backup and DR service should provide the following key elements:
- Replication of all protected systems with frequently updated backups and snapshots set by the customer for each system, allowing the customer to determine recovery point objective settings.
- Implementation of WAN optimization technologies between the customer site and the cloud, enabling full data mobility at reduced bandwidth and storage utilization and cost.
- Full site, system, disk and file recovery via a completely self-service portal that allows the customer to choose which file disk or system he wants to recover and when.
- Full testing of DR capabilities at periodic intervals to ensure the viability of the customer’s DR plan.
- Fast SLA-based data recovery. Data recovery is what backup is all about, and there can be no compromise when choosing a cloud service for backup and DR. The SLA must be negotiated up front, and the customer pays for the SLA requirements. No data, file or system disk should take more than 30 minutes to recover.
- Data validation through the use of automated or user-initiated protocol that allows the customer to check data at any time to ensure its integrity.
Choice and flexibility are critical for customers in deciding how they will perform on premises or through outsourced backup and DR. Additionally, a reduction in capital and operational expenses and reliable availability of IT systems for business continuity will play a role in the decision-making process. Cloud-based MSPs must build an established foundation of partnership and services before they are able to effectively offer customers high-quality cloud backup and DR services.
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