Dumped By Google: the Need for Cloud-to-Cloud Backup

Last week I read a blog post on the anxiety inducing ordeal of San Francisco based writer Tienlon Ho who was locked out of her Google account for six long days. Tienlon found she couldn’t do much without access – including her taxes as she had been storing pertinent information throughout Google Apps.

The post entitled “Dumped! by Google” described how Tienlon was essentially kicked out of all things Google due to violating (unknowingly) Google’s terms of service. Tienlon like so many of us keep a tremendous amount of critical data in the cloud through Google Drive. From calendar appointments and contacts to passwords and personal notes, Google Apps has become the definitive place to store information. It’s web-based and easy. But what if you’re suddenly locked out? A situation that would easily lead to heart palpitations.

Teinlon found out why she had been dumped – she had uploaded a suspicious looking doc with various passwords on behalf of a client. This prompted her to start looking into Google’s policies discovering that Google reserves the right to “terminate your account at any time, for any reason, with or without notice.” The story does have a happy ending though as she was able to get her account up and running.

Stories like this often leads to questions on the safety and security of the cloud. So, is the cloud safe? Absolutely. But is cloud backup necessary? Of course. In Tienlon’s case, had she been using a cloud-to-cloud backup solution, she could have easily accessed the data she needed – instantly. It’s essential to have a Google Apps backup plan in place so that access to data is never lost. More people and businesses are turning to Google Apps for ease of use and collaboration. But just like you would have backed up that important college essay ten years ago, it’s crucial to backup cloud applications such as Google Apps.