The Scary Reality of Data Loss
As if this year hasn’t been scary enough, Halloween is fast approaching. Fortunately for most of us, spooky season is a time for frivolity and fun in the form of friendly ghosts and excessive amounts of candy. However, some threats can prove genuinely frightening, especially when they involve data loss and downtime.
In fact, of the companies that sustain data loss, 40% to 60% are out of business within six months of the disaster1. What’s more, for large enterprises, the average cost of downtime amounts to more than $11,600 per minute2. Even scarier, human error is the number one reason for data loss in organizations3. With such spine-chilling statistics, it’s easy to see why having a data backup and recovery plan for your business is so important.
What is Backup as a Service?
Backup as a service (BaaS) is a modern approach to data storage that involves working with a data backup provider to save and store data in a secure location. Instead of performing backups on a centralized, on-premise server, BaaS connects your system to a private, public, or hybrid cloud managed by an outsourced partner. For many growing businesses, this can be the preferred data storage method as it offloads the maintenance and management of backing up data to a trusted provider.
BaaS is ideal for businesses that have reached the limits of their on-premise data storage capabilities and for those that don’t want to invest in in-house IT infrastructure. It’s also a perfect option for companies that prefer an easy backup solution. There’s no need to rotate storage devices, manually move data to off-site locations, perform integrity checks and deduplication; the BaaS service provider takes care of everything. Not only that, but the provider offers backup services for a fixed monthly fee, which means you only pay for what you need and can scale based on your individual growth plan. Because there’s no hardware to maintain, the cost of ownership is usually equal to the cost of the monthly fee.
What are the Benefits of BaaS?
Oftentimes, as businesses evolve, their data backup and recovery plan is left for dead. Backup as a service provides many benefits to organizations, especially those that have outgrown their legacy storage solution. Outsourcing backup and recovery to a trusted partner ensures data remains secure, yet accessible and restorable from a remote location. Let’s look at some additional advantages.
Backup as a service enables cost savings by eliminating the need to maintain hardware and software.
Securing data efficiently requires cutting-edge hardware, and most companies do not have the resources or finances to maintain this type of infrastructure—especially considering the rapid evolution of technology and data growth. The initial cost of hardware can be prohibitive, and when you add in repairs, maintenance, and routine updates, the ongoing cost management can become a real nightmare.
Backup as a service allows your IT team to get back to what matters most.
For your IT team, data backup can be a mundane, time-intensive task. Handing this responsibility over to a trusted BaaS partner ensures your IT experts can focus their valuable expertise toward advancing strategic initiatives—rather than performing repetitive tasks. What’s more, the time they save by using a third-party backup and recovery expert can be put toward the creation of better communication and collaboration tools for the workplace.
READ MORE: How BaaS Simplifies Admin Workloads
Backup as a service creates stronger safeguards for your business.
Cybertheft has become a booming business that only continues to grow. With an expert BaaS partner, your data is safeguarded by top-tier security, including redundant data centers with electronic and biometric access to protect against theft, human error, and natural disasters. Additionally, companies that fail to take measures to protect their data may face hefty fines from the FCC (Federal Communications Commission). With a BaaS cloud backup solution, files are encrypted before transmission and remain so until they reach their destination—ensuring your data is fully protected from all potential threats.
How to Protect Your Data
- Prepare for the possibility of a breach. Create a backup and disaster recovery plan that works for your business and information needs.
- Conduct regular tests of your backup system. Follow the 3-2-1 backup rule to properly secure your data (three total copies of your data, two of which are local but on different devices, and at least one copy offsite).
- Examine your networking infrastructure. Make sure you know where the possible security gaps are and work to plug them.
- Have a strong retention policy. Protect the data you need to keep for compliance and dispose of what you don’t need. The more data you have the more you need to protect.
- Create a seamless digital workplace. Make sure your data is encrypted not only at workstations but while professionals are working away from the office.
Don’t Let Data Loss Make Your Blood Run Cold
As a national leader in IT and telephony solutions, Optus has the expert knowledge and years of experience to help you navigate the possibilities and perils of protecting your data. If you’re interested in learning more about how Optus can support all of your data backup and recovery needs, get in touch with us today.
Additional Resources
- Disaster Recovery in the Cloud Guide
- How BaaS Simplifies Admin Work
- A Guide to Customized Data Protection
References
