Apr 07, 2015

For many businesses, the cloud has become an essential part of their operations, and others are beginning to show more interest in the technology and what it can possibly do in the future. However, as more decision-makers begin to understand the cloud, they are also starting to demand more from their services, including the ability to support continuity and recovery efforts. As breaches continue to be a prevalent threat, these features will be integral to ensuring that the organization can quickly get its systems back online.

The cloud has enabled organizations to perform processes in ways that were previously impossible. Users no longer have to rely on email and USB drives to transfer documents, they can use cloud-based online file storage to provide better security and features. SmartData Collective reported that by 2016, about 36 percent of all data is predicted to be kept in the cloud, which will drive up the cloud market revenue to more than $4 billion in that same year. Currently, 72 percent of users already have or are planning to implement cloud solutions, denoting how important this technology is becoming.

“More people are starting to use cloud storage as an additional or even primary method to store and backup their data, thanks to the increasing reliability and advancement of cloud computing technologies,” SmartData Collective stated. “The technology is being used in almost every industry imaginable, from personal use to government (more than half of the US government has already moved to the cloud).”

Future is bright for cloud backup
The cloud has become an enabler of safer document collaboration and archiving opportunities, making it a considerable asset for a number of organizations. The Register noted that while using a cloud-only system may be unrealistic for some businesses, putting cloud first could be an option. If a workload is already running through the cloud, backing up these functions to another part of the platform makes sense. In other instances, a hybrid cloud deployment may work better for firms that are heavily regulated. With this setup, decision-makers can easily store sensitive information while driving secure file sharing and other beneficial processes.

“A hybrid approach to cloud computing is not simply a means to the long-term end of getting all your data into someone else’s public cloud,” The Register stated. “A truly hybrid approach would involve deciding when paying a subscription fee is rational and when owning the kit yourself is the better call.”