What to keep in mind when choosing your cloud backup solution

Regardless of industry, businesses have never relied so much on technology than they do today. Without state-of-the-art devices and applications, we wouldn’t be able to deliver products and services of such quantity and quality.

Still, the increasing adoption of IT leaves business data exposed to threats like natural disasters and cyber attacks. This is why organizations look to cloud backup solutions to keep their confidential data safe, secure, and easily accessible.

But while cloud backups are a dime a dozen, not all are created equal. You need an easy-to-use solution that will safely store all your business data and recover everything quickly when needed. Keep these things in mind when shopping for a cloud backup solution.

Complete machine and server backups

Your employees use their computers every day, which means any downtime can greatly damage your bottom line. To recover from disasters, whether natural or man-made, your cloud backup solution must be able to fully back up your operating systems and applications.

When it comes to your servers, keep in mind that they host large amounts of data and applications, whether it be your email database, customer relationship management tool, or your accounting platform. So regardless of whether your servers are located on-site or in the cloud, you need to make sure your cloud backup solution offers enough storage space that can be scaled as needed. You should also make sure your cloud provider utilizes modern security protections like data encryption, access controls, and geo-redundant storage.

Configuration for databases and applications

Three major components make up modern business applications: the user interface, the server that receives and processes requests, and the database and its management system.

With that in mind, make sure that your cloud backup solution handles files that are being read or written by the system, back up all components, and restore them in the right sequence should an incident occur.

Mobile device backup

Gone are the days when employees use only office desktops to get work done.  Today’s workforce is mobile, relying heavily on smartphones, tablets, and laptops. Your company data is kept with personal files on various devices, meaning there are more endpoints you’ll need to protect.

For your peace of mind, opt for a solution that features automatic backup, data encryption, cross-platform functionality, and specific as well as all-file restoration. The latter feature is particularly useful since it allows you to restore specific files, saving you time when only some files are compromised.

Centralized management

A reliable cloud backup solution needs to cover all systems, including local machines, virtual machines, and other aforementioned systems from a single console. This will help you manage backups for different domains, restore data remotely, and delegate backup activities to your provider and in-house employees quickly and easily.

More than file sync-and-share

Be wary of cloud providers that present their file sync-and-share solution as a cloud backup solution. This only allows you to share files between users and access the latest edited version of files synced across multiple devices.

File sync-and-share solutions don’t have enough firepower to secure and back up servers, databases, workstations, and emails.

If you don’t have the time or are simply looking for an experienced cloud provider to help determine the right backup solution for your business, why not talk to us? We have utilized cloud technology since its infancy and offer customized solutions and seamless support that our clients can attest to. Just give us a call and we’ll be happy to advise.