Cloud Backup Review 2012 : Four Myths About Backing up Business in the Cloud

Many business owners have already adopted the cloud for a variety of reasons. The four most common reasons, and benefits of online backup, being:

1.  Need for compliance

2. Inability to maintain an on-site data center

3. Ease of use and implementation

4. Comfort with the level of security provided.

However, some businesses out there (as many as 69% of them, according to IDC) are considering moving their data backup to the cloud, but haven’t done so yet. Some may be avoiding it, because of some cloud backup myths.

Despite all the good reasons for backing up business data online, there are four major myths that still keep businesses from adopting online backup quickly.

Today, January 20th, InfoWorld’s David Linthicum published the article 4 cloud myths that won’t go away. The article includes four very telling anecdotes about why business may avoid online backup and why these reasons are due to go to the way of the do-do.

Myth #1: If I use public clouds, I give up security.

This one is tossed at me about once a day, and I’ve addressed it in this blog many times. The fact is, when you use public clouds, you do not necessarily put data and processes at a security risk. The degree of risk comes down to your planning and the use of the right technologies — just as it does in an on-premises deployment.

Myth #2: Cloud computing will put my job at risk.

Chances are, if you’re worried about the use of some technology taking your job, you’re already at risk. In reality, cloud computing won’t displace many jobs in enterprise IT, but IT roles and responsibilities will change over time.

Myth #3: Cloud computing is an all-or-nothing proposition.

Not really. You can move to cloud-based systems, such as storage and compute services, as needed, both intersystem and intrasystem. Moreover, you can move in a fine-grained manner, shifting only certain system components, such as user interface processing or storage, and leaving the remainder on premises. You do have to consider the co-location of data for data-process-intensive system components.

Myth #4: Cloud computing requires a complete replacement of the enterprise network.

This is true only if your existing network is awful and needs replacement anyway or if you plan to keep most of the data in the cloud, with the data processing occurring within the firewall (a bad architectural call). Other than that, bandwidth is typically not an issue. However, bandwidth does need to be considered and monitored, as it is a core component to the overall business systems that use cloud platforms.

Click here to view the original article at InfoWorld.com.

Backing up your business can save you millions of dollars in the long run. Avoiding a cloud backup solution for even your most basic business data, contained on workstations and laptops, your business is at risk. You may be at legal risk by not complying with government regulations, you may be at risk of losing customer information, or simply at risk of losing competitive advantages if important business information is lost. Disaster is surprisingly common. Make it a business practice to backup your data.

Keeping the Memories Alive and Backed Up : Data Disaster Recovery Plan

My wife’s grandmother is the keeper of the family history.  Every family has one.  She and my wife have been spending a day a week scanning ancient photo albums, tagging ancestors with names before they are forgotten to the annals of time.  Much to my surprise, before I could even broach the subject, she asked me about the best way to preserve and backup this growing warehouse of data.

Being busy with holidays and end of year consulting with my clients, I hadn’t had time to discuss it with them.  Sometimes we forget that customers are a lot closer to home than we realize.

Her initial thought was typical.  If she could get an external hard drive and make a copy of the data, it would be protected in case something happened to her computer.  I’ve worked with enough residential customers to know one thing.  If the backup plan requires daily or even weekly intervention on behalf of the user, it typically doesn’t get done.

I talked to her about the goal of a solid backup.  The number one goal we can all agree with is the survival of the important data in case of a disaster.  They key people forget is that we should be talking about the survival of the data in case of ANY disaster.  That threw her for a loop at first.  If the computer crashes, the backup will still be there.  Then the discussion turned dark.  My fault, but that’s my job as a consultant.

The ‘What if?’ Factor

What if the house burns down?

What if there’s a flood?

What if a tornado scatters everything to the four winds?

That’s when the subject of offsite backup comes up.  To reach the goal of a solid backup, the data has to be able to survive more than just a computer crash.  Backing up to the cloud with an online backup system ensures this.  By storing your data in an offsite location, usually geographically distant, you are extending the zone of safety around your information.

We eventually set her machine up with an online backup service and now her data is safely stored hundreds of miles from its source.  After the initial backup completed, the only data being transferred each week are the new photos they’ve scanned and any changes to the tags they made that week.  It is simple and painless and hasn’t affected their lives at all, other than the peace of mind that their hard work will do its job; keeping those memories alive forever.

— The Backup Master