BaaS
ALL ABOUT THAT BAAS
With more data being created than ever before , the need to safeguard precious information is vital . Rob Garbutt of LDeX Group discusses critical back up solutions and why he believes companies are losing sight of the basics .
Unless you ’ ve been hiding under a rock for a long time , you ’ ll notice that we ’ re currently experiencing a data explosion . More data has been created in the last two years than in the history of humankind – and there are no signs of a slowdown .
The growth and growth of data means that it has become central to the day-to-day operations of businesses , whether it ’ s used to understand and analyse their market , track sales , or better communicate internally and externally . Digital interactions between customers and companies can now be analysed and transformed into knowledge which is useful for a company .
Understandably , businesses are keen to make the most of this data .
A survey by Gartner , conducted at the end of last year , found that 75 per cent of companies are investing or planning to invest in Big Data in the next two years . The creation , accumulation and organisation of this data takes up a lot of space – which is why we ’ ve also seen an increase in the popularity of flexible subscription based services such as software-as-a-service ( SaaS ) and infrastructure-as-a-service ( IaaS ), as companies aren ’ t tied to a strict contract when they need to expand .
But placing this valuable and useful data into the hands of third parties can be a problem , as businesses need to be sure that they will still be able to access it if anything goes wrong . And there are plenty of things that could go wrong , both at the supplier ’ s end and that of the subscriber . Fires , natural disasters and bankruptcy can all destroy business critical data . On top of this , the increasing value of data means that it ’ s often a target for hackers and criminals , so keeping data secure is more important than ever .
Keeping data safe But when data is being created , reproduced , analysed and duplicated at a rapid rate , how can businesses keep it safe ? The focus on gaining more storage to cope with this data growth means that backing up can be relegated to the bottom of the list of business priorities .
The problem is that the scalable , flexible options which are offered when it comes to infrastructure and software are difficult to find in traditional back up solutions . This is where backup-as-aservice ( BaaS ) comes in . Its nature as a subscription and cloud based solution means that it can be much cheaper than legacy storage solutions , and can be easily expanded when needed , which suits companies who are keen to invest in Big Data without spending money on expensive hardware .
Firms need to ensure that they don ’ t get so caught up in the Big Data race that they lose sight of the basics . Companies may have outgrown inflexible legacy storage solutions , and therefore need to move on to a virtualised solution that can grow with them , but back ups remain as critical as ever .
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