What to Look for in an Online Backup Provider

WHITE PAPER: WHAT TO LOOK FOR IN AN ONLINE BACKUP PROVIDER . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .........

Small and Medium Business Owners and Technical Staff Who should read this paper

What to Look for in an Online Backup Provider

Content Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 The promise of the cloud . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 Not all providers are created equal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 If it sounds too good to be true . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 Issues of reliability . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 Dont entrust your valuable business data to just anyone . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 Consider Symantec . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

What to Look for in an Online Backup Provider Introduction

While you may not generate the same amount of business data that a large enterprise does, as a small or medium business (SMB) owner, you understand that your data is just as critical to the daily operations of your organization and must be protected. Serious data loss resulting from a hard drive crash, unintentional data deletion, or natural disasters, such as a fire or flood, can wipe out an unprepared SMB. Yet, with limited staff, time, and financial resources to dedicate to the matter, many SMB owners are at a loss for how exactly to protect their data. As a result, backup can go by the wayside or be left interminably on hold, nagging at the edge of your attention.

The promise of the cloud

These pain points are leading SMB owners to look for solutions in the cloud, where the tantalizing promise of easy, hosted backup services beckons. Imagine a service that allows you to hand your data over to backup experts who will then securely store your files at off-site server locations, ready and available in the cloud when you need it. An online backup service can indeed be an excellent option for a SMB. However, you must choose a vendor carefully to ensure that your valuable business data is truly protected, available, and secure 24 hours a day, seven days a week. The bottom line is, when you store something out in the cloud, you need to know its secure. And if you dont know the companys approach to security, you cant be sure this is the case.

Not all providers are created equal

In todays emerging and heavily saturated online backup market, its difficult to distinguish among the many offerings. Many of these companies appear to offer the same feature sets or price packages. However, look beneath the hood, and youll see that when it comes to online backup, not all providers are created equal. In fact, many of these companies began with solutions for the home user and are simply ill-equipped to deal with the needs of the small business. In addition, few standards exist. For example, you may assume that backup providers have a history of reliability and consistent service performance. Yet, many vendors cannot boast such a track record.

If it sounds too good to be true

Its tempting to focus on price when choosing an online backup solution. And a company that offers a cheap way to protect your data might appear to be enough. However, to assume the least expensive option will be sufficient is a serious gamble. For example the perceived cost savings may be lost if the solution takes a long time to deploy or manage, if the infrastructure is unreliable and backups are incomplete, windows are missed, or data can't be recovered when needed. Further, a cheap plan, or one that offers unlimited storage, likely wont be cheap for long. Many of these plans are offered below cost or sold in an attempt to build a customer base but they are simply unsustainable long-term. In fact, a number of online backup vendors have been forced to dump the unlimited data storage model because they are finding it simply doesnt work over time. This is largely because unlimited plans don't make sense for light users, and without enough light users to subsidize the heavy users, the model breaks down. In addition, usage is changing. With the average storage per user increasing more than 50 percent last year, companies must raise rates. Some providers have already made the shift to dramatically higher prices, and speculations are that more will follow. Unexpected price increases are a nuisance, certainly, but perhaps worse is when financial losses resulting from poor business models and weak infrastructure cause these companies to fail entirely. Cheap gets expensive quickly when youre forced to spend significant time moving your online assets from one company to another.
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http://news.cnet.com/8301-30685_3-20030096-264.html Ibid.

What to Look for in an Online Backup Provider Issues of reliability

In addition, service outages at these smaller companies are not uncommon. In March 2012, in a particularly embarrassing episode, one such provider urged people to prepare for "World Backup Day," suggesting that customers use its set it and forget it' protection to copy data from their machines, only to experience an outage that caused the companys backup service to fail.
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Unfortunately, for customers of this vendor, this wasnt the first failure to occur. In recent years, the same provider experienced server outages that prevented users from reaching their data for 72 hours. Customers were essentially forced to fix the problem themselves by downloading and installing new software while the data of 7,500 customers was lost altogether.
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Another provider was offline for several days when an employee accidentally deleted one of the main storage volumes during a system upgrade and then encountered problems trying to restore the data from backup. A similar company was forced to shut down suddenly following another high-profile customer data loss.

Dont entrust your valuable business data to just anyone

For SMBs, online backup can indeed be a life saver. The fact is, you can entrust your data to the experts and to the cloud, enabling you to focus your attention on growing your business. The key is identifying a company that takes your data backups as seriously as you do, one that understands theres no reason for failureand can demonstrate a serious track record of delivering a strong, reliable infrastructure. Consider choosing a company that offers more than just online backup so you can get multiple IT needs met from a single vendor that can provide an integrated approach to information management and security with a full range of products and services. Consider the benefits of a vendor that can act as a strategic advisor. Seek a stable company with positive revenue, a robust infrastructure, and a strong, delivered roadmap. Ask plenty of questions. Ask what will happen to your data if the online backup vendor is acquired or forced to close its doors? Ask about the vendors security infrastructurewhat precautions do they take when data is being transmitted and at rest in data centers? How are the data centers secured? Find out how difficult or easy it will be to move your data. Determine if the vendor has a history of service outages. Make sure they have a history of reliable support and an intelligible price tag that reflects the expense of a quality service.

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http://www.theverge.com/2012/3/23/2898056/carbonite-backup-service-outage-before-world-backup-day http://www.zdnet.com/blog/projectfailures/failed-carbonite-upgrade-lets-customers-down/646 http://www.datacenterknowledge.com/archives/2009/03/23/carbonite-lawsuit-reveals-data-loss/

What to Look for in an Online Backup Provider Consider Symantec

Ranked by both IDC and Gartner as the marketshare leader for backup and recovery software (data protection), Symantec offers a cloud-based backup service that automatically streams data to secure, off-site data centers managed by experts. Easy to set up and use, with no hardware purchase required, Symantec Backup Exec.cloud offers subscription-based pricing so you buy only the data protection you need, and pay no per-user licensing fee. And should disaster strike, you can keep your business up and running by restoring critical files from anywhere, with the help of a trusted partner that offers the industry's broadest range of information security, data protection, and management solutions. For more information on Backup Exec.cloud, please visit: http://www.symantec.com/backup-exec-cloud Start a free trial today!
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IDC Storage Software: Competitive Analysis: Worldwide Data Protection and Recovery Software 2010 Vendor Shares: Virtualization, Deduplication, and Competitive Conversions Impacting Market, July, 2011. Gartner Market Share: All Software Markets, Worldwide, 2010; March 30, 2011.

What to Look for in an Online Backup Provider

About Symantec Symantec is a global leader in providing security, storage, and systems management solutions to help consumers and organizations secure and manage their information-driven world. Our software and services protect against more risks at more points, more completely and efficiently, enabling confidence wherever information is used or stored. Headquartered in Mountain View, Calif., Symantec has operations in 40 countries. More information is available at www.symantec.com.
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