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Multi-cloud Backup and Recovery: Nine Ways to Get it Right

When you have data and apps distributed across multiple clouds, make sure you use the right data protection solution. Here are nine things to consider.

Written by
Don Jennings
Published on
June 1, 2021
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Think you don’t have to back up your data in the cloud?

Think again. Take a close look at the contract with your cloud vendor and you’ll see who’s responsible for safeguarding your data: You. So backup and recovery is just as important in the cloud as it is on premises.

These days, it’s common to have data and applications distributed across multiple clouds.

It’s not unusual for organizations to have anywhere from three to five clouds, as they seek to optimize the infrastructure for each application workload. This multi-cloud approach requires you to rethink the way you address data protection. That’s because each cloud platform has its own unique value proposition and its own built-in capabilities and features. So a “one size fits all” approach to data protection will fall short. You need to make sure you are optimizing data protection for each cloud. How do you achieve this?

At HYCU, we believe there are nine key success factors to consider when optimizing data protection for your multi-cloud environment.

In this new blog series, we’ll explore these success factors in turn.

Number one: Choosing the Right Class of Solution

When implementing backup and recovery to the cloud, you have a few choices. You can write your own scripts. However, that can be risky, especially for enterprises with mission-critical data. If you have an existing on-premises software solution, you could deploy your own image on the public cloud. Some people think of that as software as a service (SaaS), but it’s truly not. It’s still infrastructure you are running yourself, with all the attendant maintenance and upkeep hassles and risk.

Remember that the reason for moving to the cloud in the first place is to benefit from its simplicity and agility. Those first two options are the opposite of simple and agile.

There’s a third option, and better choice, for data protection, which is using cloud-native backup as a service (BaaS). Because it is a true service, it’s easy to turn on and off whenever you want to, and to scale easily to meet your changing needs. Plus, it offers the flexibility to adapt to the different capabilities—and the potential shortcomings—of each cloud you’re using.

So tip number one is making sure to choose the right class of solution, data protection as a service.

Number two: Upkeep and Maintenance for the Cloud Operations Model

Since change is the only constant these days, how will you adapt your data protection infrastructure as your needs evolve? That includes upkeep and maintenance to accommodate new cloud-native and modern applications or workloads. Here, too, you have some choices.

Option one is to have your in-house team constantly updating your backup and recovery infrastructure. However, that requires an investment in time and talent that doesn’t typically generate additional value. Enterprise leadership tends to view this just as a required upkeep and maintenance effort—no brownie points for updating the backup infrastructure. Yet if you don’t keep up with the task, you could be leaving your data vulnerable to loss.

The second option is, once again, backup as a service (BaaS). This option offloads the task of updating to someone else, whose job it is to ensure you always have the latest and greatest updates, with no effort on your part.

Now think about being agile. Once again, a key reason for moving to the cloud is to have the flexibility to right-size your workloads quickly and easily. A true BaaS solution will size to fit your changing needs seamlessly. So you have the data protection capacity you need on every cloud, without any complicated sizing exercises. Your data is protected and your IT team is free to focus on higher-value activities.

In the next installment of this series, we’ll look at automating protection and making sure you leave no application behind.

In the meantime, if you’d like more information about how HYCU handles multi-cloud data protection, you can find more information at www.hycu.com or if you’d like to experience HYCU first hand, you can sign up for a free trial at TryHYCU.

Read on to find more ways to get BaaS right:

  1. Multi-cloud Backup and Recovery: Nine Ways to Get it Right
  2. Get BaaS Right: Automating Protection, Leave No App Behind Nine Ways to Get BaaS Right: Automating Protection, Leave No App Behind
  3. Nine Ways to Get BaaS Right: Recoverability and Cloning
  4. Nine Ways to Get BaaS Right: Data Migration, DR and Scaling
  5. 9 Ways to Get BaaS Right: Cost Efficiency and Key Takeaways Nine Ways to Get BaaS Right: Cost Efficiency and Key Takeaways
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Senior Director of Global Communications and PR

Don Jennings, Senior Director of Global Communications and PR at HYCU, Inc., is a seasoned communications executive with a career rooted in the enterprise IT space. Formerly a tech lead at an award-winning PR agency, Don excels at driving results and building strong relationships without resorting to games or annoying stakeholders. Passionate about storage, cloud, and data protection, and maintains robust connections with storage, IT, and enterprise software media and influencers.

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