Cloud backup vendors are a dime a dozen, it seems. How can you be sure that the one you’ve chosen to partner with is offering you the best you can get for the most reasonable price? Here are some things to look for if you’re shopping around (or to make sure your vendor has if you’ve already chosen a partner).
Consumer Versus Business Solutions
A consumer-grade cloud lacks the security, flexibility, scalability, and performance that a business backup solution requires.
The first thing a business should make sure of is that their vendor specializes in cloud backup solutions for businesses, not consumers. There are tons of consumer-grade cloud storage and backup options available, but the performance — and most of all the security — isn’t up to standards for business use. If you are backing up any sensitive information like consumer data, a consumer-grade backup is likely to put you out of compliance.
Look for a Vendor with High Performance Backups
Performance numbers might not be the first thing you consider, but it should be a high priority. Even a seemingly tiny increase in speed is meaningful, because you’re probably paying one of your staff members to babysit your backup process. Costing them additional minutes every week takes away from their productivity with other tasks. This hinders productivity and drives up labor costs more than you realize over time, especially if backups are a daily part of your workers’ daily routine.
Find a Vendor with a Comprehensive Backup and Disaster Recovery Solution
Backups and disaster recovery aren’t the same things, but backups are the centerpiece of a solid disaster recovery initiative. If your vendor offers the complete package of services, then the recovery process is probably better designed and more thoroughly tested. However, bear in mind that a complete disaster recovery plan isn’t something you buy as a package from any vendor. A true disaster recovery plan is developed in-house and is specific to your organization. The vendor, however, can make things like restoring backups much easier and smoother.
Be Sure Your Vendor Has a Great Security Record
Before you assume that the vendor can secure your data, find out how well they’ve done for other customers. Don’t simply read the testimonials they put up on their website. Any business is going to choose their happiest, most satisfied customers’ comments to put up for everyone to see, even if there are dozens more dissatisfied ones out there. Look for reviews published outside their domain and in reputable tech magazines and business journals.
Demand at Least Five Nines of Uptime
The five nines of uptime (99.999%) is the absolute lowest acceptable level of uptime you should consider. At thousands of dollars per hour for downtime costs, that .001% can get really expensive really fast. Study the SLA (service level agreement) of your vendor to see what they guarantee, as well as any restitution you are owed for the losses you experience due to downtime.
Are you ready for a better cloud backup option? Backbox can help. With both backup and disaster recovery solutions available, business continuity has never been easier. Learn more about Backbox today.