Utility versus Fully Managed Cloud Backup and DR

The cloud market is getting highly saturated day by day. The options for cloud and backup solutions are increasing. The organizations that fail to benefit from cloud solutions are the ones that don’t take decision making seriously. A high percentage of organizations fail to provide a high availability structure to their customers and employees.

There are two types of backup service providers:

•             Utility Service Providers

•             Fully Managed Backup service providers

What is the difference between the two kinds of services?

The answer lies here:

Utility Service Providers

Utility Service Providers deploy backup and DR as a utility assuming that the organization requires the

utility only and has dedicated trained personnel to oversee the backup processes. Having trained IT

professionals to handle Cloud Backup services can be costly and SMEs and SMBs seldom have that manpower. What happens here is that the solutions are deployed without taking the data security and management into account.

Organizations end up losing data because of poor management. This is because the Backup service has been deployed as a mere utility. The main principle that should be from the cloud service provider’s perspective is that “you handle your end and we handle our”. On these terms, the ambiguity is removed.

Fully Managed Backup Service Providers

A fully managed backup service comes with all the perks of management and security. It saves a lot on the labor overhead. Reduces the possibility of human error. The cloud service provider in this case covers the deployment and overseeing of secure data transfer and backup.

Organizations should make sure that their data and backups are actively monitored. Choose from reliable service providers that prioritize security. The hardware used must be reliable. Cloud service providers should be compliant to well-known standards along with the standard that your organization follows. Lastly, even though the CSPs manage the infrastructure, Organizations must retain visibility and control. Everything should be transparent.

Conclusion

Fully Managed cloud backup and DR comes with a lot of advantages. The mission-critical workloads of the organization are managed with the right priority. Cloud backup service should not be completely ruled out; it is still an option for an organization that has dedicated staff to oversee the backup processes. Choosing from among a lot of different cloud vendors in a saturated market can be challenging. Organizations should not compromise on security, hardware, and control.