Do You Need Backups? Do You Need Backup as a Service (BaaS)?

Did you know that according to IDC, we will be storing 163 zettabytes of data by the year 2025?

Each day, even as you are reading this, businesses are collecting more and more data. This data is flowing in through transactions, payroll operations, accounting, user purchases, etc. The global consumption of data is simply astonishing.

Although the amount of data generated is humongous, we need to backup the company’s data and keep it secure for business continuity.

How can you do it?

The simplest way is to utilize Backup as a Service (BaaS). Keep copies of your data on the cloud and recover when there’s any such requirement.

Let’s explore why businesses should opt for Backup as a Service.
What Is Backup as a Service?

Let’s compare Backup as a Service with your office backups:

Traditionally, backups are kept on hard drives and office servers. These solutions are maintained and managed by the in-house IT team. As a result, many small and medium enterprises don’t even have backup provisioning. They are just used to keep important data on hard drives.

Backup as a Service, on the other hand, is a cloud-based alternative. It is the same, but you keep backups of business data on the cloud in servers situated at a remote location. These off-site servers secure your data even in case of natural and man-made disasters.

It is not hard to tell that BaaS is a perfect service for organizations that need backup solutions at optimized rates. You get additional benefits that improve your productivity.

Why Is BaaS Crucial For The Business?

Data is important, and data loss is damaging. With data loss, you face penalties, fines, and reputational loss. On the other hand, with clean and managed data, you get the power to customize your services and solutions. Hence, Backup as a Service is necessary for any organization. It helps you recover from unforeseen situations.

You must be wondering about the benefits that you will get with BaaS. We have discussed some of the important benefits of this service.

Storage

In hard drives and in-house servers, you have limited storage. Of course, you can always add in hardware and improve your storage capacity. But, with BaaS, you can scale your storage on-demand without adding hardware units. You can call your BaaS provider, and they will take care of it.

Payment Model

In-house, scaling up means more hardware, and scaling down means wastage of hardware that requires regular maintenance, even when you are not using it.

The payment model of the cloud service provider is hassle-free. You pay for the capacity and resources you are consuming – pay as per your use. There are no off-site hardware costing, software management costs, and IT team maintenance costs.

Recovery

If you go back a few years and recall the time needed to restore backups from a hard drive, you will realize how fast the cloud is. On the cloud, the same size of the dataset will be restored in minutes.

Here, the BaaS makes a huge difference.

Without BaaS scenario:

After a disruptive event, your IT team needs days to recover data to every computer in the office.

With BaaS scenario:

After a disruptive event, the provider restores the data within minutes.

Managed Service

Backup as a Service is a managed service. It means that BaaS is managed and maintained by the cloud provider or hosted virtualized desktop provider. They have resources, a team, and experience to manage situations that can’t be handled in-house.

Your data backups are automated, and security monitoring is always top-notch. All these managed service benefits give you peace of mind and better operational productivity.

Support

If you face issues with the backups and recovery mechanism, you can call the support center immediately and get a quick resolution. The support team will answer all your queries about the service and its working.

Questions To Consider Before Using BaaS

We use Backup as a Service to protect the business data from any unplanned situation. Every business needs to assess the following questions before opting for the BaaS.
What Advantages of BaaS Can Help Your Business?

We have already discussed the benefits of BaaS above. Evaluate these benefits and see which of these are crucial for your organization.

• Convenience
• Data security
• Disaster recovery
• Affordability

If you require these benefits, then BaaS is made for you.

However, if you need more benefits, then you need to explore other similar solutions. For instance, if you wish to back up your entire IT infrastructure, then DRaaS (Disaster Recovery as a Service) is a better choice than BaaS.

What Type of BaaS Implementation Should You Consider?

There are multiple types of sub-services included under BaaS:

• Storage on-demand. This means scalability options.
• Outsourcing automated backups.
• Monitoring of backups for security.
• Simpler recovery.

Check the type of services you need. For instance, if you think you may need to scale, then you need a cloud service that offers scalability with BaaS.
What Factor Can Be a Deal-Breaker?

There are various factors that you should not compromise on, but the topmost concern should be speed. If you are not getting back up on time, then your business can incur losses. So, your provider should offer recovery in minutes.

Conclusion

In case of a cyberattack, human error, or disaster, you need data backup. When your business incurs a data loss by mistake or due to unplanned circumstances, backup files help you with business continuity. But, taking and maintaining backups is taxing. Backup as a Service can mitigate your hassles related to data backups and recovery. Choose a service provider for optimized costs, high security, and quick recoveries.