All companies understand the importance of backing up data, but they may not all be aware of cloud-based offerings that can save internal resources and lower the IT budget related to data storage. And some companies shy away from the cloud because they prefer familiar and traditional backup approaches or are fearful about the cloud’s complexity and risk. Whatever the reason, there are benefits to consider.
Cloud Backup Advantages & Disadvantages
A chief benefit of cloud-based backups is that they don’t consume on-site resources and instead are housed off-site. According to Rachel Dines, senior analyst with Forrester Research (www.forrester.com), with PC-based backups, vendors introduce new features all the time. Generally, backups are non-disruptive, continuous, and provide the ability to work with open files even as they are being backed up. She points out that these backups can sometimes be accessed from smartphones and tablets, even if the data was originally backed up on a desktop or laptop.
Ileana Funez, research analyst with Info-Tech Research Group (www.infotech.com), says that on the server side, where companies are backing up a larger amount of data from multiple systems, one benefit is that there is “very little management overhead that goes into it.” Many vendors also offer redundant storage features and provide “a good amount of security for the long-term availability of data,” she says.
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