Pros and Cons to Cloud-to-Cloud Backup

It’s likely your organization uses cloud technology – Flexera reported that 94% of all enterprises do as well. Cloud services can improve security, cut costs, and allow for greater flexibility as you navigate a quickly changing business landscape.

On average, 51% of IT deployment budgets are allocated to SaaS applications across infrastructure tools and platforms like Office 365 and G Suite. Gartner predicts the SaaS market will grow to a $143.7 billion market by 2022.

To maximize budget, IT departments should ensure they’re taking measures for data backup to avoid unexpected costs from disasters.

Remember – just because data is in the cloud doesn’t mean it’s immune to risk. So, what’s the solution for protecting your data and your budget? In this article, we’ll cover the pros and cons of using cloud-to-cloud backup when it comes to protecting your data and bottom line.

What Is Cloud-to-Cloud Backup?

According to TechTarget, cloud-to-cloud backup, also known as C2C backup is the practice of copying data stored on one cloud service to another cloud. This is often accomplished through transferring data via an API from Microsoft or Google’s cloud to another public or private cloud.

C2C backup is an added layer of security for cloud data, which is vulnerable to:

• Accidental deletion
• User error
• Data overwrites via 3rd party apps or native recovery
• Malicious activity

C2C backup is created specifically to protect cloud data within applications like Office 365 and G Suite, which are hosted on public clouds, and provide a failsafe for user data as a part of the shared-responsibility model. The shared-responsibility model that Microsoft and Google operate on means Office 365 and G Suite aren’t required to protect your lost or stolen data caused by human error (due to malicious activity or innocuous accidents), misconfigured workflows, hackers, or viruses.

Furthermore, storing data only on a public cloud can increase risk in a number of ways:

• Company security policies may not extend to the cloud
• Vulnerabilities to malicious activity occur
• Multi-tenancy creates a risk of private data being leaked to other tenants

With C2C backup through third-party vendors like Backupify, your data is copied from a public cloud into a private cloud, purpose-built for added security and protection from a shared-responsibility model.

Pros to Cloud-to-Cloud Backup

There are several benefits to backing up your critical data with C2C backup technology:

• Decrease management and maintenance: Enterprises can save on data management and maintenance costs by outsourcing to a third-party provider.
• Minimize initial costs: Because there is no need to invest in on-site backup infrastructure, enterprises can save money on data backup.
• Customize and purpose built: In many cases, cloud to cloud vendors allow you to add or remove storage as needed – or cover the costs of storage themselves – which helps keep recurring costs low and predictable.
• Automate services: Backups can be run automatically and without manual intervention. This means even in the event of a deletion, your data still exists, intact. In addition, this saves your team time in managing backups.
• Efficient processes: Top vendors, who have been at C2C technology for a while, have years of data to improve their services and make their processes more efficient than ever. For example, Backupify has the capability to work around Microsoft’s REST API limitations.
• Resilient to cyberattacks: If your enterprise experiences a ransomware attack, cloud-to-cloud backups are protected, as information isn’t saved on an office network.
• Minimize downtime: Solutions like Backupify are optimized to restore data from backup into the primary web application, which means you can get back up and running faster.

Cons to Cloud-to-Cloud Backup

When considering whether to move your business data storage and backup a cloud-to-cloud solution, it’s important to note that not all backup solutions are the same.

With that, there can be downfalls to a cloud-to-cloud option. For example:

• You could be sharing resources: When using AWS or Azure, you might be required to share bandwidth and processes with other companies in the system. This can increase your risk of downtime and outages. An outage on AWS in 2017 cost publicly traded companies up to $150 million dollars.
• Your data may not be stored at an independent location: Services like Azure follow a process where cloud data stored in Azure is copied back to Azure meaning data is not stored in an independent location. This can be risky in the event of a disaster at Azure. Separating data storage locations means increased protection of information. It’s better to look for a service that extracts data from web applications and stores them in an independent location or separate cloud storage. This way, in the event of a software glitch or security breach in the primary system, your data is safe.

It’s also worth noting that restoring data from a cloud-to-cloud backup can vary in time. The speed at which your data is restored will depend on the available network bandwidth. If you’re using a vendor that shares resources, it can take longer than if you were to go through a local restore process where data is stored on the physical hard drives locally.

Moving Data Backup to Cloud-to-Cloud

When looking for a cloud-to-cloud solution or provider, it’s best to look for one that:

• Functions to back up data, not archive it, which means your data is readily available for restoration back into the live environment
• Meets compliance needs or internal policies
• Prioritizes ease of use with a support structure to respond swiftly and efficiently if necessary
• Allows you to customize the portions of data you need protected
• Has an external security certificate
• Demonstrates time-tested expertise in working with SaaS application APIs

When done correctly, there are many benefits to cloud-to-cloud backup. Interested in learning more? For more information on using the cloud for data backup, contact Backupify.