Not all cloud backup is enterprise-ready, says industry analyst firm

A new IDC White Paper, sponsored by Mozy® by EMC, highlights the risks that enterprises face if they fail to carefully evaluate vendors before selecting a partner for cloud backup and access.

With spending on public cloud backup services estimated to reach $2 billion this year, IDC highlights the need for due diligence in the selection process.

“There has been an explosion in the number of vendors offering backup services and, while some of these have been designed to meet the needs of large businesses, others are designed with SMBs, consumers or individuals in mind,” said Laura DuBois, Program Vice President, Storage at IDC. “Enterprises that fail to dig beneath the surface with a given solution could find themselves risking their data in unsuitable environments or having the rug pulled out from under them by a provider that doesn’t stay the distance.”

Entitled Key Criteria in Selecting a Cloud Backup Provider Built to Last, the new IDC White Paper offers a checklist of criteria for business to use in their selection processes as well as an overview of industry trends and information.

“As more enterprises begin investing in a cloud backup provider, the trust placed in that provider to offer a solution that's truly enterprise-ready becomes all the more critical,” said Claire Galbois-Alcaix, Senior Marketing Manager EMEA at Mozy, the provider of specialist big-business backup service MozyEnterprise®. “That’s why we wanted to provide organisations with the information and thought-leadership of IDC in both learning how a cloud provider can help them and how to decide where to place that trust.”

The IDC White Paper’s hotlist of cloud backup “must haves” for enterprises includes:
- Financial stability
- Proven infrastructure
- Established enterprise customer base
- Geographically distributed data centers
- Third-party validation and accreditation
- SLA terms and execution
- Robust encryption
- Centralised management