By Johan Scheepers, Commvault Systems Engineering Director for MESAT
The fast rate of growth and diversification within business environments is leading to explosive data growth and data silos, which in turn leaves them faced with issues such as managing complex infrastructure while minimising expanding costs. In the same breath, most organisations are feeling the pressure to move applications and data to the cloud, in line with current trends.
However, organisations need to continue to keep data security, accessibility and business functionality top of mind. Saying this, how can an organisation ensure it is making the right data backup and recovery decisions for the business, while continuing to protect – and enable easy access to – all of its data across the data centre?
There are three key considerations to keep in mind to help an organisation do just that, while keeping it simple and saving money:
- Consider the business reasons for backing up.
One can easily justify implementing a new – or replace an existing – backup solution. However, organisations need to consider what it will mean for their business. Choosing a storage and backup solution goes beyond simply being a place to move data to and recover data from; it is about what the business benefits are. Organisations need to keep their business needs and goals in mind when they consider what they need data for and, therefore, how they will store it.
Organisations do more than simply store data today. They actively use their data, retrieving it and changing it time and again. Due to this, data storage needs to be more than a long term back up; it must be a proper archiving system that offers multiple additional features such as data management and classification. Although storage prices are dropping quickly, it still becomes unnecessarily expensive to store data that serves no purpose but as a record, and one which cannot be easily pulled at that. Having data management, archiving and classification features attached to your backup and recovery solution ensures that the data being stored isn’t simply taking up (expensive) space, but is accessible, fit for purpose and usable to the benefit of the organisation.
- Look for value.
There are many data backup and storage solutions available on the market today. Storage prices per Gigabyte (GB) are getting cheaper and cheaper, but they aren’t adding any value. Data is a valuable commodity today and as a result, is driven by the vast amount of information to be found in data, organisations are looking for solutions that offer flexibility and portability, allowing them to be agile in the market. Organisations are looking for a smart way to tie up all their data assets in such a way that they deliver the same operational recovery but also allows them to be activated and leveraged for business purposes.
The advent of the Cloud has harked a change in storage and gives the power of storing, accessing and using data back to the customer. Organisations now have a choice of which service provider, or combinations of providers, they use for backup and recovery, what infrastructure they own or rent, and how they pay for it. They have the option of flexibility in data movement and workload portability. With technology evolving as quickly as it is, flexibility is vital in this day and age. Organisations need to be able to use the technology that suits them and discard what doesn’t, with the agility to do so as and when it becomes relevant to change.
Flexibility, agility and portability are what adds value to your data storage, backup and recovery solution and, in turn, will be what adds value to your business.
- Don’t opt for one-size-fits-all solutions.
One-size-fits-all backup and recovery solutions may seem like the perfect answer to a backup and recovery solution, nonetheless to enable true agility to handle data growth, it is recommended not to settle for such a one. Organisations need to think smart and utilise data intelligence to orchestrate a number of fit for purpose techniques that drive different requirements in their data centre.
A data centre environment comprises many different components and backup software is best positioned to manage it, given it touches all components, but it needs to be able to integrate with everything in order to do so effectively. Organisations who wish to simplify their data storage and management solutions, in line with their data strategy, will be well served opting for a data platform that focuses on agility and integration, while handling data growth with ease.
A platform that turns on a number of methodologies and techniques for data management and protection becomes efficient, not only in the storing and management of data, but in multiple other functions such as tracking data, duplication and access rights. It ties the full solutions together, allowing enterprises to meet the needs of their individual environments and business goals, as well as applying new dimensions and use cases to the importance of data within an organisation, all without needing new infrastructure.
Following current trends, such as moving to cloud or opting for virtualisation, has an impact on the type of storage and backup solution an organisation needs. According to
In conclusion, data backup and recovery solutions need to deliver more to business than the mere storing of mountains of data. Businesses need to extract the best value from their solution and work with a partner who understands their needs and can provide that value, especially in an economy where data is growing ever more critical to success.