Traditional data backup and storage options for organizations have been confined to disk-to-tape, CDs, DVDs, external hard drives, flash memory and networks. While these options provide the initial benefit of data backup separate from the host machine(s), their shortcomings in reliability, security, cost-effectiveness, and convenience have been increasingly exposed. Consider just a few of the most recent failures of traditional backup options:

• At the Louisiana Office of Financial Aid, social security numbers of almost every student applying to state universities for the past nine years were lost when a courier misplaced a backup tape. (Pope, John. “Student data lost in security breach.” The Times Picayune 17 October 2007.)
• In Ohio, the names and social security numbers of all 64,000 state employees were stolen from an unencrypted backup storage drive left in an agency intern’s car. (Noyes, Katherine. “Thieves Boost Info on 64,000 Ohio State Workers.”  TechNewsWorld 15 June 2007.)
• In Florida, a disgruntled architectural firm employee deleted seven years' worth of drawings, a loss valued at $2.5 million in total by the firm.

It’s real life examples like these that drive home the need for a better backup solution - and organizations are looking to online backup providers to meet this need. Once considered a limited novelty, online backup’s growth as an industry and as a traditional backup alternative has been significant. In fact, a December 2007 report by Doug Chandler from the research firm IDC predicts that sales of hosted backup storage services will reach $715 million in 2011, up from $235 million in 2007.

But for those unconvinced of online backup’s advantages over traditional backup methods, you needn’t look any further than its capabilities across four distinct and crucial areas; disaster recovery, security, ease of use and cost.

Disaster Recovery

Disasters leave unprepared businesses in ruins. Hurricanes, tornadoes, blizzards and fires can not only destroy the physical building, but they can also destroy the computers, tapes, DVDs and CDs stored inside, which may contain critical business information (e.g., customer bills, project files and intellectual property).

Arguably, online backup’s most important contribution for organizations that choose to prepare for a disaster is its assurance that data will be stored offsite. When a disaster strikes, data stored offsite will be the only guarantee that the data is securely stored and recoverable. With the advantages of faster restoration of files, online backup offers a significant advantage when compared to traditional backup methods. After a loss occurs, users can restore files to the old location once it is safe to return or can seamlessly restore the data to another location, allowing the business to continue operations. While not a universal offering, online backup takes disaster recovery to the next level, as some backup providers mirror data to multiple secure geographically dispersed data center facilities.

While traditional backup providers do offer offsite storage in various cases, it’s a more expensive and unreliable option. Whether a storage vendor or an internal IT employee picks up the backup tapes and takes them to another location, the method becomes truly prohibitive for a business with a limited IT staff/budget and often fosters inconsistency with data transfer schedules. Online backup can ensure this step is completed nightly or hourly based on businesses set rules.

Security

The amount of data being created and stored daily by organizations is growing exponentially. Simultaneously, the variety of data being stored is expanding - everything from intellectual property to sensitive customer information to necessary email documentation.

The consequences of this type of information getting into the wrong hands can mean a loss of customer confidence, stolen trade secrets, and legal troubles. For companies facing regulations, like the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) and Sarbanes-Oxley Act, not meeting compliance and experiencing security breaches can warrant hefty fines. For example, in addition to protecting sensitive data, guidelines of HIPAA also require that all electronic data be backed up and be recoverable in the event of a disaster.

With increased threats of security breaches and strict security requirements in compliance regulations, some businesses might express concern about the safety of information being stored using the Internet. However, most online backup providers use the latest encryption technology to secure data during transmission. With encryption, it is very important for businesses to look for providers that can ensure their data will be protected with a 256-bit encryption key, to which only the user has access. In this case, online backup can rival and even surpass the encryption standards of traditional backup.

Perhaps above all other advantages with security, online backup also guarantees that data is always available, something traditional methods can’t promise. While some traditional storage providers offer encrypted storage devices, once the data is stolen, lost or vandalized, the data is no longer accessible. Therefore, online backup offers the security required to meet business and compliance policies and guarantees the data will always be available for restoration.

Ease of Use

The burden of backing up data, determining its success and restoring necessary files is time-consuming and costly. For small to medium-sized business (SMB) owners, the lack of a dedicated IT staff means the burden falls on other employees that may not have the time or knowledge to guarantee a backup was successful and that proper files were restored. For larger companies, IT staffs are tasked with a myriad of IT responsibilities, and tackling data backup using traditional methods can take away the time they can dedicate to solving more strategic problems.

For most organizations, backing up data is a manual process. And since the process isn’t automatic, human nature means IT departments or business owners are less inclined to keep a perfect schedule of backups. The need to restore files at a moment’s notice – day or night – exacerbates the problem. Since employees may not be able to work without necessary files, the entire business can come to a halt until the data can be restored – no matter what time of day it is.

In addition, the reliance of traditional backup on manual methods creates risk of human error or device failure every time the process is completed. When backups fail as a result of hardware or human blunders, organizations are often not alerted to the problem. As a result, failure to save a file is not recognized and/or employees are manually tasked with determining whether a backup failure occurred. Overall, the manual input strategy of traditional backup creates inconsistency and instability.

Online backup’s solution to this problem is to allow for scheduled backups to automatically occur any time based on an organization’s needs. Organizations can determine which files should be backed up and on what schedule – nightly, weekly, monthly, etc. The burden of determining and guaranteeing that a backup was successful then falls on the online backup provider, which can deliver reports with detailed statistics and messages about each file that is backed up or restored.

When problems arise, not only is the data guaranteed to be stored as a result of the automatic process, it is also guaranteed to be restored. Online backup vendors assume the burden of restoring the file so productivity remains high.

Cost

Whether it’s an SMB or a larger company, the need for a return on investment and low total cost of ownership are crucial determinants when deciding on the best storage method.

The significant cost advantages of online backup over traditional backup can be looked at in a few different ways. First, and perhaps the strongest cost advantage, is the elimination of the cost of IT departments or employees having to physically back up the data every night and restore the files if necessary. Eliminating the cost of IT employees’ traditional backup time is especially important for businesses with a limited IT staff, which would not normally experience secure data storage and easy file restoration. The return on the investment is further realized since using an online backup service means files can be restored quickly and 24/7, which keeps overall business productivity high and the organization moving.

Secondly, online backup offers significant cost savings over traditional methods given the often elimination of setup fees, installation costs, and equipment purchases. Because files are compressed before they are saved on an online backup provider’s servers, more information can be stored at a lower cost. For each gigabyte of storage the customer buys, they are actually receiving two to three times more storage space for the price per gigabyte.

Is Online Backup Right for You?

Online backup clearly offers a myriad of benefits to end user organizations looking for alternative storage methods. Whether it’s planning for disaster recovery or backing up data in order to restore an accidentally/maliciously deleted file, online backup offers an easy, cost-effective and secure way to save critical business information. Businesses not effectively backing up crucial data face a host of problems.

Organizations evaluating online backup should first determine the amount of data their company must save on a daily basis, the amount of technical support they require based on staff knowledge and resources, and the budget they have to devote to storage. Businesses should then consider online backup providers that offer the best in customer support (since the vendor will be responsible for storing and restoring files), the highest in encryption (at least 256 bit AES file encryption methods), automatic and scheduled backups, unlimited revisions and file compression.

Sam Gutmann is Co-Founder and CEO of Intronis Technologies. www.Intronis.com