CLOUD BACKUP
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offer a virtualised cloud-routing service that interconnects the direct connectivity services of each cloud provider directly on the platform, providing the shortest pathway between the clouds. This ensures the lowest latency between any clouds, offering seamless, secure and cost-efficient data transfers between clouds. “Resellers should impress on their customers that being able to trust its connectivity infrastructure is essential. Day-to-day operations depend on fail-safe transportation of data. Unfortunately, in the real world, incidents and outages are a part of life and it is necessary to build connectivity in such a way as to minimise the impact of these. Through building multiple layers of redundancy – in terms of technology, geography and infrastructure partners – a company can design its critical digital infrastructure to be more immune to real-world events." Stephen adds that resellers should also focus their conversations on highlighting the financial, operational and compliance issues caused by data loss without backup. “In addition, the organisation should understand their own unique data needs and their risk profile for potential data breaches,” he says. He adds that resellers should explain the benefits of different cloud backup solutions, emphasising the different system’s capabilities with security, reliability and ease of use and provide clear cost comparisons and address any concerns about data privacy. Graham adds that channel partners should extol the virtues of utilising backup solutions for their cloud data. “Resellers should talk about the need for backup and SaaS data protection,” he says. “They should ensure that their customers are aware of the importance of it and the risks involved. Resellers play a pivotal role in driving awareness and engaging with the right vendors for their customers.” Protection from attack Another conversation needed is for customers to guard against the growing threat of ransomware attacks. “Providers are focusing on implementing advanced security measures, including AI-driven threat detection and quick data recovery capabilities,” James says. “Security remains a top priority, and customers are demanding cloud backup services that adhere to stringent security standards and compliance regulations. Providers are implementing encryption, access controls and compliance features to
address these concerns.” Kevin Dunn, country manager, UKI &
Nordics, Wasabi Technologies, agrees that cybersecurity needs to be emphasised by resellers. “Cybersecurity attacks are skyrocketing and becoming more sophisticated as companies depend increasingly on interconnected systems,” he says. “One report showed that ransomware attacks had increased by 95% between 2022 and 2023. “In the event of an attack, even if you pay a ransom there is no guarantee you’ll get that data back. If it’s backed up to a secure, immutable cloud location, the company is guaranteed to get all their data back. By providing an immutable offsite copy of an organisation’s data, the organisation is essentially getting a ‘get-out-of-jail-free card’ in the event of a breach.” “A key concern is cost being a barrier to entry. Large cloud providers typically charge a variable cost for customers to access their data, which renders an offsite immutable insurance policy unaffordable for smaller organisations. Many specialist cloud providers, on the other hand, do not charge extra for this, enabling their customers to test their disaster recovery processes and access data at scale without incurring any extra cost.” “Resellers need to paint a picture to their customers and ask tough questions about their data. What would happen if their business was attacked by cybercriminals? Do they have the functionality to cope? Do they have a robust plan in place? Time and time again, we find customers don’t have a robust plan and haven’t documented any processes, so it’s up to resellers to act as consultants, sitting down and helping them design a worst- case scenario recovery plan.” Immutable backups Gareth John, lead architect and technologist – hybrid cloud at Logicalis, says that backing up workloads and data is only one side of story. “The success of data protection should really be measured on whether data and applications can be recovered to a known good state in an appropriately timely manner,” he says. “This can only be ensured through regular testing and, with the rise of ransomware, there is now a need to build intelligence into the recovery phase, targeting only affected data and ensuring that reinfection doesn’t occur. “The sophistication of attacks is maturing, using tactics such as delayed execution to promote reinfection and targeting of
Dr Christoph Dietzel
de-cix.com
Kevin Dunn
wasabi.com
“
In the event
of an attack, even if you pay a ransom there is
no guarantee you’ll get that data back.
”
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