For many small and medium businesses (SMBs), data backup remains a significant challenge. And yet, in our increasingly digital world, data backup (and recovery) has never been more important – nor more integral to business function –than it is today.

Combine the traditional roadblocks and resistance to backup with the growing need, and you end up with what Stephanie Balaouras, a principal analyst from Forrester Research, calls “The Backup Conundrum.” Stephanie, one of the guest speakers at the i365 webinar earlier this month, explained that companies are caught in a bind thanks to mushrooming data volumes and inadequate backup and recovery functions. Simply stated, she said, the question that every SMB is asking is:

How can we backup more data in less time, more frequently, and for the same amount of money?

It’s a thorny problem to be sure. But, it’s one that every SMB needs to solve. Ever-increasing recovery demands, shrinking or stagnant budgets, an evolving regulatory/compliance environment and the diversity of modern IT systems and networks mean that backup concerns at many SMBs are reaching a boiling point, Stephanie explained.

And yet, when it comes to backup, it seems like many SMBs are stuck in a time machine.

“We’re still stuck in the Dark Ages,” she said. “Things must change.”

But, how? What can you do to improve backup functions at your company?

Fortunately, Stephanie used the webinar to tackle that question head on, and she outlined these Five Steps to Bring Backup Out of the Dark Ages:

1. Move to a disk-based solution today. A disk-based solution improves backup and restore performance and enables you to take advantage of advanced backup functionality. In turn, you’ll decrease downtime and most likely, you’ll cut costs, too.

2. Avoid multiple point products to solve individual backup challenges. Use comprehensive backup solutions that can be integrated throughout your IT network.

3. Select a backup application that supports your entire IT environment. Today’s IT ecosystems are complex and heterogeneous. Be sure to choose a backup system that covers all of these various moving parts.

4. Stay current with backup application updates and use the advanced agents with application awareness. “I’m always surprised that a lot of companies don’t take advantage of upgrades, even when they’re entitled to one,” Stephanie said.

5. Use Cloud recovery/storage services to fill in the gaps of your current DR strategy and for long-term data retention. “Normally, where you would vault to tape, that’s where you want to go to the Cloud,” Stephanie advised.

So, don’t keep your SMB locked in the Dark Ages. Instead, start your own Renaissance by taking advantage of today’s innovative backup and storage solutions. Hybrid strategies that combine on-site storage with off-site applications in the Cloud can significantly advance IT function and enhance overall business performance – and that’s a huge improvement over entrusting your tapes to the Knights of the Round Table.

Posted by Kevin Payne