ST Mar-Apr 2021

MANAGEMENT: BACKUP BUDGETS
DON'T CUT BACK ON BACKUP
JOE NOONAN, GENERAL MANAGER, UNITRENDS, OFFERS SOME
INSIGHTS INTO HOW BEST TO BUDGET FOR BACKUP IN 2021
As the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic
continues to stretch IT budgets to
breaking point, organisations are
analysing areas of their business where they
can cut costs - especially as continued
lockdowns continue to place further pressure
on finances. While it is tempting to place
backup on the back burner, the risks of doing
so can be detrimental both financially and by
means of reputational impact should data be
lost or compromised. An additional
consideration for businesses is the many
sources of risk, particularly around data
availability.
Data losses can prove potentially fatal to a
business in the event of a high-profile erasure
of crucial information. This can take place via
human action such as intentional or
unintentional deletion of files, hardware failures
such as system crashes, natural disasters, or
even malicious targeted cyber-attacks.
Failure to integrate a backup strategy in these
situations can result in downtime that leads to
employees being unable to work, cutting off
contact with customers, suppliers and partners
and creating the potential for huge financial
losses. With this in mind, it's imperative for
organisations to integrate a cost-effective data
backup and disaster recovery solution to
mitigate risk, both in the sense of data
availability from an off-site facility and the
contingency to resume operations at an
alternate site in the case of a physical disaster.
Data backup services don't need to involve a
capital expense, which is crucial for many
organisations during this current period when
purse strings are being tightened. Pricing
models can reflect the increased need for value
and be flexible in their nature to meet
organisational needs and the limited budgets
that IT professionals are facing.
Subscription-based backup services are an
affordable option that can be fully customised
to requirements. In addition to reduced
downtime, utilisation of these services can ease
the data burden on management via cloudbased
solutions that can be scaled up or down
depending on future business strategy. Due to
the changing IT landscape brought on by the
pandemic, subscription pricing now
encompasses the full spectrum of backup
solutions, from appliances to direct-to-cloud.
Due to the remote work landscape, cloud
storage has become more crucial for many
organisations as they look to store data from a
number of devices. But while public cloud may
at first seem like the most affordable option for
an organisation, it can be challenging to
accurately price - and costs can quickly add
up. Though each organisation has its own
unique needs, a hybrid approach that includes
both public and private cloud tends to be a
cost-effective solution that provides the ability to
scale public cloud infrastructure to manage less
predictable workloads without impacting the
workloads running on the private cloud. A
hybrid approach also allows more sensitive
data to be deployed on the private cloud while
less sensitive data can run on public
clouds concurrently.
One crucial element to consider is the time
technicians will spend managing backup
solutions. If multiple disparate solutions are
chosen due to lower price points, the overall
savings will likely be minimal as technicians
must spend hours manually reviewing multiple
interfaces to confirm backups are working
properly. By focusing on integrated backup
solutions that provide a centralised
management platform, organisations can
better allocate limited resources.
While economical influences are creating
financial pressures for organisations across
industries, it remains the case that data loss
caused by human error, natural disaster or
cyber-attack can cause financial hardship that
can prove impossible to bounce back from. In
fact, the average cost of cyber-crime for an
organisation increased by US$1.4bn to $13bn
in 2019.
Organisations can protect their data on tight
budgets by assessing subscription-based
solutions, thoroughly reviewing their cloud
options and focusing on integrated backup
solutions where possible. Not only can this
approach help future-proof a business, but IT
professionals can convince their leadership
teams that it's a convenient, affordable and
suitable investment for the organisation -
particularly in the context of the current
economic climate where business frugality is
more important than ever.
More info: www.unitrends.com
34 STORAGE Mar/Apr 2021
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