Organizations of all sizes need to ensure they are protecting their valuable data assets. Enterprise resources need to be safeguarded from attacks by external threat actors as well as data loss caused by malicious or unwitting insiders. Losing access to mission-critical data can cripple a company’s ability to support business operations and service its customers.
Implementing effective data protection is complicated in organizations that employ hybrid or multi-cloud solutions. Companies routinely use multiple infrastructure elements when building their computing environments. This may include on-premises data assets, information resident in software-as-a-service (SaaS) applications, and resources stored on public cloud storage devices.
Organizations cannot afford any gaps in their data protection coverage.
It can be challenging for the limited technical resources available in many small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) to craft and maintain an all-inclusive data protection plan. The potential exists for an oversight that exposes a company to a business-impacting data loss scenario.
Let’s look at what constitutes an effective data protection strategy. We’ll also discuss an efficient and cost-effective method of protecting enterprise data by working with an experienced managed service provider (MSP).
What Comprises a Comprehensive Data Protection Strategy?
A well-designed and comprehensive data protection strategy is essential for companies that rely on their IT environment. Fully protecting all aspects of a business from accidental or intentional data loss requires a multi-faceted strategy comprised of the following three elements.
- Backup and Recovery – A reliable backup and recovery solution is necessary to protect the organization from typical data loss situations. It should regularly back up data resources without impacting system performance. The solution should provide the ability to recover individual files or complete systems when the need arises. Backups can also be instrumental when migrating systems to a new infrastructure.
- Disaster Recovery – A viable and tested disaster recovery solution is essential to protect a company from large-scale outages. These may be caused by natural disasters, extreme weather events, successful ransomware attacks, or other types of cyberattacks. At one time, effective disaster recovery required a large upfront investment and maintaining an alternate recovery site. Cloud disaster recovery solutions have made it possible for any organization to protect its environment.
- Business Continuity – Business continuity plans are designed to maintain business operations in the face of adversity. They combine backups, data protection, and disaster recovery solutions to ensure a business can survive cyberattacks or disasters. The plan should address issues such as prioritizing the systems that need to be recovered, enabling employee access to the recovered systems, and making sure customers can interact with business offerings and services.
Engaging an Experienced Third Party for Enhanced Data Protection
Working with an experienced third party is often the most effective method of
addressing potential gaps in an SMB’s data protection coverage. VAST IT Services has extensive experience with all aspects of data protection and can help your company ensure there are no gaps that put your business at risk. VAST’s team of experts will help you design and implement a solution that keeps your business data secure.
VAST has your back with a range of data protection options to fit your business needs. They can help implement self-managed solutions and also offer comprehensive and cost-effective managed data protection services. SMBs can take advantage of these services to protect their data resources without the financial commitments involved with implementing an on-premises backup and recovery infrastructure.
The professional partnerships VAST has forged with industry leaders in the data protection field put them in an excellent position to identify the right solutions to address your unique business requirements and objectives. Customers can choose from the following methods of eliminating the gaps in their data protection coverage.
Backup and Recovery
Companies that want to implement a self-managed backup and recovery solution can take advantage of VAST’s strategic partnerships with leading vendors. The backup and recovery vendors VAST supports include Veeam, Nutanix, Veritas, Cohesity, and Druva. VAST’s backup and recovery experts understand the strengths of each solution and make informed recommendations to protect your business. If your company already implements one of these solutions, VAST can optimize it and ensure there are no data protection gaps.
VAST’s cloud backup-as-a-service (CBaaS) offering provides companies with a simple and effective method of protecting their data resources. The CBaaS solution is powered by Druva’s advanced backup capabilities that offer effective data protection for diverse computing environments. Companies can protect data stored in the cloud, on-premises, and on enterprise endpoints. The solution also protects SaaS data for platforms like Microsoft 365 and Salesforce.
The benefits SMBs can enjoy from VAST’s CBaaS solution include:
- Fully managed cloud backups that align with your business objectives;
- Advanced data backup and protection technology;
- Predictable fixed pricing to eliminate budgeting complications;
- Immutable backups to protect sensitive data and address regulatory compliance requirements;
- No costs for building and maintaining a reliable backup environment.
Disaster Recovery
VAST’s disaster recovery-as-a-service (DRaaS) is a cloud-based and automated disaster recovery solution. The service is built using Amazon’s AWS Elastic Disaster Recovery platform which offers customers multiple benefits to enhance their ability to recover after a manmade or natural disaster.
The advantages of AWS Elastic Disaster Recovery include:
- Cost savings by only paying for the full recovery site when it is needed;
- Fast application recovery to the most current state or a previous point in time;
- A streamlined platform with which to test the recovery of business-critical systems.
The DRaaS solution can recover from on-premises or other cloud environments to AWS. Additional resiliency is provided by the ability to recover to alternate AWS regions.
Business Continuity
VAST helps your organization develop a business continuity plan by gaining an understanding of your company’s processes and the risks posed by unexpected outages. They can help you implement backup and recovery solutions to protect your valuable enterprise data as well as using their DRaaS offering to ensure your business can maintain operations after a disaster.
Talk to VAST’s data protection experts and learn how easy it is to implement reliable solutions to ensure there are no gaps that put your business at risk.
