Organizations today often decide to outsource the management of their IT infrastructure and services to Managed Service Providers with the experience and skills to manage, configure, and oversee operations of business-critical infrastructure. A necessary component of IT infrastructure services is backup and Disaster Recovery.
A data protection strategy is vital if data is lost due to a disaster or maliciously destroyed in a ransomware attack. Managed Backup and Recovery allows businesses to offload this responsibility to qualified solutions providers. Let’s take a closer look at Managed Backup and Disaster Recovery and see what benefits it brings to the table.
What is Managed Backup and Disaster Recovery?
It’s more than just transferring files from one place to another. Managed Backup and Disaster Recovery protects against all types of data loss. A Managed Service Provider well-versed in data protection oversees the process, from setting up backup systems and performing backups to constantly monitoring the status of these backups.
These Managed Service Providers handle the initial setup of your backup infrastructure and provide things like continuous monitoring, regular testing, and restoration assistance if needed. These managed services protect your business and secure it from cyber threats, including ransomware attacks, ensuring that it can continue its operations even when disaster strikes.
Managed Backup vs. Customer-Managed Backups
Many organizations may ask, should they manage their own data backups or outsource this task to a Managed Backup service? This decision often depends on a company’s resources, expertise, and how critical their data is. Let’s compare customer-Managed Backups (the traditional approach) vs Managed Backup.
Customer-Managed Backups
When businesses handle their own backups, they have direct control over their data. They manage when and how to perform backups, where to store them, and how to restore operations after a data loss. This process might involve a combination of local backups, on-site data centers, and potentially even some cloud backup.
The primary advantage of managing your own backups is the control it provides over your data. You can customize your backup plans and handle sensitive data internally according to your specific requirements.
However, there can be challenges with this traditional approach. It requires considerable resources and expertise to establish and maintain your backup infrastructure.
Making sure data is reliable means closely following the rules for managing the backup process. Dealing with possible errors in the data and keeping your own backup equipment in good shape requires a strong knowledge of the technology used and your company’s needs.
If the backups don’t work, it’s completely up to you to resolve the problem, and this could cause tremendous issues if the plan for backing up the data isn’t sound.
Managed Backup
Managed Backup services take care of all aspects of backing up your data for you. These Managed Service Providers use sophisticated technologies and follow the best industry practices to provide reliable backup solutions.
Managed Backup services may store your data in secure, remote data centers or cloud storage, offering more extensive protection from local disasters or cyber threats. They continuously monitor and manage your backups, reducing the chances of failures and data corruption.
Another advantage is that Managed Backup providers often specialize in backup and Disaster Recovery, meaning they are data protection and recovery experts. They are experienced in managing backup systems, have robust Disaster Recovery plans, and can handle data loss situations more quickly and efficiently.
However, one potential concern with Managed Backup services is the trust required to let an external party handle your company’s critical or sensitive data.
Why Managed Backup and Disaster Recovery may be worth it
Data is one of the most crucial assets for businesses today. From sensitive client information to financial records, data drives the operations of many organizations. Any form of data loss can significantly impact a company’s operation, resulting in downtime, lost revenue, and damaged customer confidence.
Managed Backup and Disaster Recovery services protect data, help businesses recover quickly, and minimize financial loss when a data loss event occurs.
The Role of Disaster Recovery
The other side of “What is Managed Backup and Disaster Recovery” coin is Disaster Recovery. It focuses on recovering your business operations after data loss or significant system disruption. The goal is to reduce the recovery time, the period from when a disruption occurs to the point where systems are available for use again.
Disaster Recovery solutions take over after your Managed Backup has safeguarded your data. They are designed to quickly recover as much data as possible, getting your business back on track. The Managed Service Provider plans and manages Disaster Recovery strategies, constantly working in the background to ensure business continuity.
They help businesses understand what crucial decisions need to be made in their Disaster Recovery planning around the recovery point objective RPO and recovery time objective in their Disaster Recovery solution.
Combining Managed Backup and Disaster Recovery
Managed Backup and Disaster Recovery may seem like separate concepts, but they are deeply interconnected. Managed Backup services ensure that your data is backed up routinely, while Disaster Recovery services ensure that your operations can resume without significant delay in case of any mishap.
Together, they help to protect your business against data loss, system failures, and operational disruption. By entrusting these services to professionals, you can focus on your core business functions, knowing that your data is secure and your operations can recover quickly in a disaster.
Key Features to Look for in a Managed Backup and Disaster Recovery Service
When choosing a Managed Backup service, here are key features to look for:
- Secure Data Storage: Your backup data should be stored securely, either in a remote data center or cloud storage, to protect it from local disasters or system failures
- Regular Data Backups: Your service should conduct regular data backups to ensure that the most recent data can be restored in case of a loss
- Swift Data Recovery: The faster the recovery time, the less downtime your business will experience
- Continuous Monitoring and Testing: Your service should monitor your backups regularly and test the Disaster Recovery plan to ensure it works when needed
- Compliance Management: Many industries have regulations regarding data Backup and Recovery. Your service should manage compliance effectively to avoid potential legal issues
Wrapping up
With the fast pace that many organizations are moving at today, having a skilled Managed Backup solution and assisting in backups and Disaster Recovery can offset a tremendous amount of risk for business-critical data.
Especially for organizations without the skillset in-house to take care of Backup and Recovery, businesses greatly benefit from outsourcing this essential part of Business Continuity.
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MSP Series: What’s included in Managed IT Services: Part 11
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