ST May-Jun 2021

ROUNDTABLE: BACKUP BACKUP
EVERY DAY IS A BACKUP DAY
THIS YEAR'S WORLD BACKUP DAY HAS COME AND GONE, BUT IT MIGHT BE THE LINGERING
IMPACT OF COVID-19 THAT HAS A DEEPER EFFECT ON ORGANISATIONS' BACKUP THINKING.
STORAGE MAGAZINE GATHERED THE THOUGHTS OF INDUSTRY LEADERS
Just as a dog isn't just for Christmas, it is
increasingly clear that backup isn't
something we should only think about on
World Backup Day. This March saw the
landmark tenth WBD, but it is fair to say that
we haven't seen ten years of measurable
improvements in how organisations plan and
manage their backup and restore processes.
As data volumes soar and interconnectivity
spreads ever wider it might look like those
who evangelise about backup are fighting a
losing battle.
But the recent changes to all our working
patterns forced on us by the pandemic and
lockdown have brought a renewed focus for
many at board level on the importance of a
defined - and tested - backup strategy.
According to Nick Turner, VP EMEA, Druva:
"Whilst we've celebrated a decade's worth of
World Backup Days, this past year has tested
the ability to protect business data like no
other. According to our Value of Data report,
since the onset of the pandemic, IT leaders in
the UK and US have reported an increase in
data outages (43%), human error tampering
data (40%), phishing (28%), malware (25%)
and ransomware attacks (18%)."
IS YOUR BACKUP FIT FOR PURPOSE?
So is World Backup Day really anything more
than a PR opportunity for vendors? Zeki
Turedi, CTO EMEA at CrowdStrike says:
"Milestones like World Backup Day act as
reminders for IT professionals to look again
at their IT architecture and confirm it's still fit
for purpose. Like so many organisations
around the world, the last year taught us that
workers can adapt how they work, but our IT
infrastructure in some cases is not as flexible.
What the pandemic hasn't done at all is slow
the growth in threats posed to organisations."
It is important to understand the difference
between backup and business continuity,
argues Adrian Moir, Lead Technology
Evangelist at Quest Software: "Businesses
have rapidly adapted to remote working, and
many employees are now operating and
accessing data away from the traditional
corporate office. While the best practices
around data protection and recovery are still
there, it is critical that business evolve their
strategies just in the same way that our
24 STORAGE May/June 2021
@STMagAndAwards
www.storagemagazine.co.uk
MAGAZINE