- Small to mid-sized enterprises (SMEs) that are Microsoft/Linux shops require a backup solution intended for their environment.
- SMEs have fewer resources to dedicate to backup, and therefore need a solution that is easy to use, well supported, and affordable.
- Backup infrastructures are changing. Developments in virtualization and cloud computing are creating new challenges and opportunities for organizations in terms of availability and recovery.
Our Advice
Critical Insight
- Be realistic about what your requirements are, what existing storage investments you want to leverage, and what your future roadmap includes. Purchase a solution that does what you need for today, but be aware of where the vendor offers opportunities to scale out your solution for future growth and changing requirements.
- Selecting a backup solution that is easy to use will save you time and effort, an important benefit especially when IT resources are limited. A number of vendors offer different approaches to simplify their solution, including end-user self-service, a single platform for management, and user-friendly or role-based interfaces.
- Tape is still very relevant for a number of organizations, despite the move towards disk backup. A number of vendors support tape, including the ability to perform deduplication to tape, but not all. Pay attention to vendor’s support of tape if you currently use tape or plan to in the future.
Impact and Result
- Understand today’s backup software market for Windows/Linux environments, where it’s going, and what its leading vendors are doing.
- Identify the solution best suited to your organization’s unique backup software needs.