RenovoData Weekly Articles

• Cost of company downtime
• Cost to restart in the event the business shuts down after an initial loss
• Cost of lost business and customer retention and acquisition
• Cost to rebuild customer information accumulated over the years
• Potential costs of litigation if the lost data poses a risk for the company to face legal liabilities

Cloud computing has gained popularity over the past two years.  The concept incorporates software as a service (SaaS) as well as other technology trends that have the common theme of reliance on the Internet for satisfying the data storage needs of the user.  However, cloud storage providers such as Carbonite, Amazon S3 and Google App Engine have recently been troubled with recurrent shutdowns and losses of customer data.  The problems experienced by these companies have made some question as to whether cloud storage poses a data security risk, specifically due to users depending on unseen infrastructures holding massive data vaults that can attract the interest of hackers and electronic terrorists.

Unlike a reliable remote backup company that stores data at an offsite data vault, the distinctive attributes of cloud storage require risk assessments in areas such as data recovery, as well as privacy and legal issues such as e-discovery, regulatory compliance and auditing.  In contrast to using a secure remote backup service provider, below are a few precautions Gartner gives when considering a cloud storage service provider.

• Since cloud services bypass the physical, logical and personnel controls IT organizations exert over in-house programs, sensitive data processed outside the enterprise brings with it an inherent level of risk.

• Customers are ultimately responsible for the security and integrity of their own data, even when it is held by a cloud service provider.  Remote backup service providers are subjected to security certifications.

• When using cloud services, the exact location of where the company’s data is hosted is unknown.  In fact, the data may be stored in an unknown country.

• Data is in a shared environment alongside data from other customers, posing an encryption risk which could make data totally unusable.

• Many cloud service providers lack the ability to replicate data and application infrastructure across multiple sites, making the stored data vulnerable to a total failure in the event of a disaster.  The cloud service provider’s capability to do a complete restoration is imperative in the case of a catastrophe.

• Investigating inappropriate or illegal activity may be impossible in cloud computing.  Cloud services are difficult to investigate because logging and data for multiple customers may be co-located and spread across an ever-changing set of hosts and data centers.

• In the event that the cloud service provider goes out of business or gets acquired by a larger company, make sure the provider is able to get the data back in a format into which a replacement application can be imported.

Although there is no such thing as 100% foolproof backup, partnering with a trusted and secure data backup service company will provide a higher level of security to store all mission-critical and regulatory compliant data.  If contemplating on storing in the clouds, consider the factors mentioned in this article.

Businesses are facing many hard-hitting challenges caused by the current economic environment, where technology budgets have become negatively impacted by the credit crunch. According to an article published by the Wall Street Journal in October 2008, 61% of CIOs are currently re-evaluating their budgets, 49% are trying to save money by renegotiating contracts with their vendors, and almost 25% have instituted a hiring freeze - which is a bad sign indicating that many businesses may not have enough staff on hand to complete already started projects on time.  Opportunities for IT cost reduction can be found within key categories where Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) can be reduced, and core areas where remote backup companies enable savings during these hard economic times that many businesses are facing.

The sudden onset of the financial crisis and consequential recession has induced strong growth in IT spending for 2009, causing IT organizations to reevaluate their operating costs and prepare for the worst.   Money is tight and reducing overhead is the key to keeping the doors to the business open.  Globally throughout all industry sectors, IT organizations are searching for ways to operate leaner.  The growth of corporate storage needs and the resulting increased importance of data protection and storage are forcing IT departments to grapple with increased costs and complexities.  By managing an efficient storage environment through outsourcing, centralizing and automating IT functions, organizations will realize a reduction in TCO of storage infrastructure, increased performance and lower overhead.  Hiring a remote backup service providers to handle the operation and maintenance of hardware and software will prove more efficient and cost effective.

A remote backup company assists organizations in achieving a reduction in their TCO through several ways.  Their most immediate means to accomplish this are through eliminating expenses associated with the following:

Hardware and Software.  Includes hardware and software purchases, maintenance and support contracts, training and professional services, upgrades and other software such as virus protection and backup software.

IT Operations.  Components include the costs associated with server deployment, server configuration, network and storage infrastructure, data center power and cooling and other system administration tasks.

Downtime.  Includes costs of restoring services, lost employee productivity and lost revenue.

Business Administration.  These include the labor cost associated with creating orders, obtaining purchase approvals, negotiating vendor contracts and tracking the procurement process.

Tough economic times force downward pressure on IT budgets that require organizations to operate leaner.  When calculating TCO, procurement of assets, IT support, administration, downtime and operation cost are all factors to consider.   Outsourcing a remote backup service provider to uncover the hidden costs and manage IT operations associated with the business can be critical to achieving significant savings as the organization's needs continue to grow.   Eliminating business practices that are significant cost centers for the business, as well as implementing advanced standards of data storage and protection, will have a positive impact on reducing TCO, while inevitably increasing the ROI for the company.