The trend to outsource specific aspects of corporate IT functions is continuing to grow exponentially. Service providers have developed offerings around a wide range of needs and named these offerings “… as a Service”. Hardware, Software, Infrastructure, Security, Disaster Recovery, and Backup as a few examples of popular ‘as a Service’ offerings.
The Internet, being what it is, has rushed to flag related products and services to key words that get a lot of attention. So tire manufacturers have aligned themselves with key terms for cars, just to be seen, so too have software developers who offer backup software aligned themselves with the term “Backup as a Service” or BaaS, when in fact they may not offer any services, only software that a service provider might use.
Business owners and C-level executives may be drawn to BaaS because it puts the responsibility of ensuring that daily backups are not dependent on internal IT staff who may be stretched thin and fall into the trap of pushing the mundane task of backups to the back burner. Similarly IT Managers may feel that it’s safer to put their backups in the hands of company whose sole or principal job is to make sure backups are running almost continuously so that in the event of a lost file, corrupt database, or malicious attack such as ransomware that multiple good backups are available to rely on.
Backup as a Service Benefits
The benefit of a backup service is that business owner’s and IT departments can hire a provider to take care of everything related to the topic of backups. By enrolling in this service, the business outsources the backups’ monitoring and storage space.
That is a huge statement to shift all responsibility to a vendor. If a prospective provider of BaaS doesn’t do everything related to the backup, then they are falling short of the complete definition of Backup as a Service.
BaaS = Turn Key Backup Solution
What businesses look to a BaaS provider for is to make all the decisions related to backup. First, what software to use. Having customers choose what the software will be is a bit like telling a carpenter what hammer to use. The whole point of “as a Service” is that presumably the contractor knows the best tool to get the job done. And, likewise, the hardware to be used for storing backup data.
BaaS Providers Should Own the Restoration Process
Business owners should also expect that BaaS providers will ensure that proper decisions are made on what to backup, how often backups should be run, how long to retain the backup data, how to effectively consolidate backup data to match the client’s retention needs, and so forth. It seems obvious, but the even more important things a provider should do is restore data when needed and not just be available in case of emergency but take the lead on data restoration work. If the data restore is corrupt, who is responsible for that? Not a software vendor, I can tell you. There isn’t single software vendor we’ve ever come across who will own the data restoration process and if server’s won’t boot or a file is corrupt figure out how to resolve it.
There are many companies out there that market themselves as Backup as a Service when, in reality, all they offer is software and no service. So, when shopping for a BaaS solution that is the right match, beware of what the company is truly offering.
Your BaaS provider should take full ownership of any and all restoration needs. If a BaaS provider you are considering makes it the responsibility of your IT department or Managed Service Provider, you’re talking to the wrong Backup as a Service company.
Cloud Backup – A Critical Element of a Robust IT System
So the answer to the question “What are the benefits of online backup or backup as a service?” is that the providers of these services take full and complete responsibility for backing up your data to give you peace of mind.
Implementing a robust backup solution is just one element of a robust IT system. Contact us to learn more about improving your IT solution for better productivity that enables growth.
