Contrary to popular belief, data which is stored in the cloud can be lost. Although it is typically safer than local data backup solutions, any system can fail and cause damage to your business. For those businesses who are storing critical data in the cloud – data which could if lost, would cripple their business – may wish to consider cloud to cloud data backup.
Data is moved around, written over, even deleted on a regular basis. This may not always be malicious – perhaps a user deletes information after a project is terminated, or a customer cancels their contract. You may wish to have that data later, but it’s now gone (and of course, there are also incidents of malicious intent, such as ransomware attacks.) While may think their data is safe from cyber attack while in the cloud, cyber criminals are constantly working to establish new ways to infiltrate your systems. You can never sit back and feel completely protected, unfortunately.
It is not inconceivable that at some point, you will want to get that data back. Cloud to cloud data backup is one way to do so. The systems allows you to keep your data in multiple locations, so that even if data loss occurs on one cloud, you can retrieve from the other.
Defining Cloud-to-Cloud Data Backup
Redundancy occurs when data is stored in multiple locations. If one backup site is corrupted, you can easily access your data from the other backup site. Copying data kept on one cloud service to another cloud service is a popular way to achieve redundancy. Practically speaking, it is a reliable way to protect yourself from data failure and can actually be easy and cost effective to establish.
People don’t realize how integral cloud applications are to the survival of their business. Consider your email systems – most small to medium sized businesses have cloud-based email systems. Imagine if suddenly you couldn’t access any communication with customers and vendors, especially those saved conversations which are kept for legacy purposes. By having the right cloud data backup system in place, you can always retrieve those records. Managed service providers are very proficient in implementing these additional fail-safes for your business, providing not only the additional redundancy but a layer of professional expertise as well.
If you do not have data redundancy, you may have to resort to paying people to attempt to restore your data – and these services can cost large amounts of money. Equally expensive – if not more expensive in the long run – is the lost business and reputation should you suffer a significant data breach. You could conceivably lose current customers, and scare new customers away. For some industries, the loss of data may involve a breach in compliance. These types of violations, such as those under HIPAA regulations, could carry hefty fines with them as well.
This is why MSP cloud-to-cloud data backup has grown so much in popularity. Because the managed services team is an extension of your team, they understand your business, your needs, and your security and compliance requirements.
Overall, the cloud provides affordable, scalable and reliable data protection. Cloud to cloud data backup may just be the best solution for small businesses who need agile and flexible solutions, but who value their data too much to put it as risk. If you would like more information on how to best create data redundancy for your Sarasota area small business, call Alliance IT today.
