Data Backup Moves Closer to Data Protection
As threats to our data grow, traditional methods of protecting our information are changing to meet the challenge.
Modernizing your data protection strategy is now more complex than just reviewing your existing backup software and deciding whether to replace it. Sleeper ransomware can infect your backups, the accounts used for backup can be compromised, and there are new features that can simplify failback after a disaster. Deciding which of the new features being offered by vendors are appropriate to your needs, whether they intersect with existing data protection tools, and which vendor is best for you will need research.
Our Advice
Critical Insight
- Understanding your risk profile and consequential feature requirements will be very beneficial in the creation of your data protection strategy. The new features being offered by backup vendors should be seen as additional tools in your data protection armory rather than replacements for existing tools such as endpoint protection or effective security practices.
- Review your data protection strategy holistically, investigating which of these features you need in your environment and determining whether your existing tools may suffice.
- Decide how, if adopted, the new features may fortify or modernize your current data protection plans and then review vendor offerings.
Impact and Result
- Cybersecurity issues are an increasingly huge risk to data and IT environments worldwide. This places stress not only on IT staff, pressuring them to enhance their data protection solutions, but also on business owners concerned about their revenue stream.
- The new features work to mitigate that risk, but some tools also enable an environment to failover much more efficiently in the event of a disaster, and new cloud backup features provide enhanced confidence in the protection of offsite data. In general, the tasks that can now be performed are not only enhanced but also expanded.
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Data Backup Moves Closer to Data Protection
As threats to our data grow, traditional methods of protecting our information are changing to meet the challenge.
Executive Summary
Your Challenge
Many backup and recovery companies are now calling themselves data protection (DP) platforms, with a list of new terminology and features that represent a new paradigm in the backup world. Staying on top of the new terms and DP features is difficult, and now the constant reference to data security and data protection compliance makes it even harder to make sense of how this impacts the business and your data protection strategy.
Common Obstacles
Understanding where backup stops and data protection starts becomes difficult when products evolve. It’s clear, for example, that malware needs to be detected and removed, but does the responsibility lie at the device level, at the backup level, or both? There are myriad vendors now providing numerous additional features to their products. Determining which is best for your environment, or whether you need a combination, can be challenging.
Info-Tech Approach
Start by understanding what the new changes are in the backup marketplace and consider what additional functionality is added by the new features being offered. Consider which of those functions suit your needs and then compare the offerings of the different vendors to determine the best fit.
What’s up with backup?
Problem statement:
Data backup has traditionally been the domain of the operational areas of IT, and security teams have been responsible for threats to data from malicious attacks. As the sophistication of these attacks have grown, backups themselves have come under threat and vendors have had to incorporate new features into their software to address these attacks and protect data. Is there an overlap between these new features and existing security tools used in your organization and are both required? Explore these new features and understand which features are provided by which vendor so your backups and data security management can meet this growing threat.
This research is designed for:
- IT strategic direction decision makers
- IT operational and security managers
- Organizations reviewing their data protection solutions or backup strategy
This research will help you:
- Understand the changing role of backup.
- Review new features available in backup software.
- Give a clearer understanding of what features different vendors are offering.
- Plan your backup strategy with regards to data protection.
Info-Tech Insight
Historically, the biggest challenges with backups were; which software to use, how much backup space is needed, and how big a backup window?
Times have changed.
“What does this all mean?”
| Thought model: “What are my options?” The question may well be asked, “Is anything new being offered here?” Backup has always been a requirement along with data protection. What HAS changed is that cybersecurity features are now being included within the backup tools. We consider here:
Info-Tech InsightTake the time to clearly understand the many different data protection options available. |  |
The role of backup has changedHistorically backup has primarily been a safety net for the “oops” factor. Someone accidentally deletes or overwrites a file, a folder is deleted, or a system has crashed and the missing data needs to be retrieved. Now however, the ubiquity of ransomware and its insidious nature have changed the landscape permanently. Data backup is no longer just about operational fallback. It’s now also about cybersecurity and therefore data protection. We need to safeguard against malicious attacks, and particularly relevant to this topic are sleeper attacks, in which malware can be dormant for a period of time and then awaken and spread throughout your organization and even your backup. |
High-Level Design Considerations
|
Data protection taxonomy
With backup’s growth into data protection and additional features being added, the landscape becomes more complex, and the tasks to be performed can be seen more clearly through a taxonomy.
Why do we need these tools and to perform these tasks? What will we be affecting or protecting? How will it be done and where? Who will benefit most?
Why |
What |
How |
Where |
Who |
| Operational Recovery
Disaster Recovery Retention and Preservation Governance, Risk, and Compliance |
Device Type
Data Type Content Type Operational Environment |
Protection Technology
Storage Technology Access Technology Management Technology |
Location Type
Data Relocation |
Market Segments
Sales Channels |
Our perspective
Security, data loss prevention, and backups...coming together as one?
| As data protection needs have changed, so too have the features changed to meet these needs.
Originally user error was the primary concern, so merely having a copy of the data was seen as sufficient. As major disasters occurred in the world, such as the attack on the World Trade Center, disaster recovery planning (DRP) and business continuity planning (BCP) grew. Now cyberattacks are front and center as a new threat to business continuity and resilience. Data protection companies who integrate backup technology with cyberthreat detection have become the industry leaders. |
BackupSiloed data sets protected from internal user error or system failure. |
|
Disaster RecoveryBidirectional dataflow between systems protected against environmental catastrophes |
|
Data ProtectionGrowth of malware, malicious actors, and cyberattacks has resulted in the addition of cybersecurity features. |
Growth and size of the industry
It’s big and getting bigger....
With a focus on data protection, improved features, and the evolving integration of cybersecurity technology, the backup and recovery market (now serviced by data protection providers) is set for global growth and expansion.
- The global backup and recovery market in 2021 was $9.96 billion (Reports and Data, 2022).
- Other predictions indicate the market size will grow by US$14.59 billion between 2021 and 2025 with a CAGR of 17.07% (Technavio, 2021).
- This will drive increased M&A within the industry.
It has been a busy few years
The acquisitions and mergers trend will continue.
|
A few key acquisitions and feature releases (in no particular order):
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Don’t forget your non-tech
Consider your non-tech requirements when reviewing vendors and solutions.
Business Continuity PlanningA BCP requires input from multiple departments with different and sometimes conflicting objectives. There are typically few, if any, dedicated resources for BCP, so it can't be a full-time, resource-intensive project. IT Disaster RecoveryAt its core, disaster recovery (DR) is about ensuring service continuity. Create a plan that can be leveraged for both isolated and catastrophic events. |
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Data Loss PreventionData loss prevention (DLP) involves taking core measures to ensure sensitive/critical information does not leave an organization electronically. ComplianceBackup reporting is a requirement for compliance reporting, and it is crucial to keep organizations compliant with data regulations. AuditBackup and recovery services as well as general data protection solutions are areas that the IT auditor, company auditor, or external auditors will review. |
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