Businesses today face a myriad of challenges in protecting their business-critical data. The reliance on data and information systems has created internal and external challenges for business owners and their IT staffs.
One of the main issues is unrelenting data and application growth. International Data Corporation (IDC) estimates that from 2008 to 2011 digital data will grow by 60%. A 24-by-7 culture further compounds this where employees, partners, and customers expect always-on availability of applications, making traditional backup windows obsolete.
According to an ESG survey, the number-one challenge faced by businesses with their current data protection solution was the need to reduce backup times. Furthermore, companies are experiencing constricting budgets and have limited resources to support distributed environments, mobile workers, and multiple locations. This coupled with a dynamic business environment and ever-changing requirements leave IT administrators feeling overwhelmed.
Businesses also face external pressures that affect their data protection and recovery strategy. Compliance with government regulations for security, accessibility, and availability of data cannot be ignored. According to a poll conducted in 2007, total average cost of compliance for companies with US market capitalizations above $75 million was $1.7 million. While this reflects a decrease from previous years, it is a hefty sum nonetheless. External pressures do not end with compliance.
Yet, in addition to these data protection challenges, another challenge has become paramount in today's business climate: cost savings. With the current economic situation, IT administrators must demonstrate their ability to deliver better service levels and address new business needs while also lowering costs. Today, every move counts and selecting a data protection strategy that delivers demonstrable cost savings can help.
The data protection market has evolved with a number of alternatives that can save costs.
Connecting to the Cloud
Cloud Computing offers compelling benefits including pay-per-use which significantly lowers upfront IT costs, elastic capacity where users buy only the resources and applications as needed, and access to skilled IT workers who can manage IT infrastructure better than customers can for themselves.
For most businesses, the question is less about whether they move to the cloud and more about how. Should the first step be an application as a service, infrastructure as a service, storage as a service (SaaS), testing as a service, data warehousing as a service or something else? Should the focus be on new applications, moving existing applications and infrastructure to the cloud, or on bridging current IT to the Cloud?
The Cloud Evolution
Unless a business is replacing an ageing application such as their CRM with a Cloud-based CRM such as salesforce.com, the best option may simply be to connect to the cloud. By connecting to the cloud, businesses get access to a range of cloud-based services such as elastic compute and storage capacity. Businesses can also take advantage of cloud-connected applications like data protection, archiving, and remote disaster recovery. These Cloud-connected services add to on-premise applications and infrastructure rather than replacing them. Cloud-connected services represent an evolutionary step from on-premise computing towards pure, utility based cloud computing.
Cloud-connected: A hybrid approach to computing
In Gartner's Hype Cycle for Cloud Computing 2009 David Cearley uses the term “hybrid Cloud Computing” to describe these Cloud-connected services. He uses hybrid Cloud Computing to refer to the combination of external public Cloud Computing services and internal resources in a coordinated fashion to assemble a particular solution. He notes that this hybrid approach offers the best possible economic model and maximum agility and that it sets the stage for new ways for businesses to work with suppliers and partners.
Conclusion
Cloud-connected computing and storage are emerging as a solid, cost- effective approach to addressing ballooning data growth. And, hybrid solutions that offer both local and Cloud-based storage provide additional flexibility. A properly designed solution not only saves money but provides solid data protection and addresses compliance and security issues as well.
- Keith Gnaney is Managing Director EMEA and VP Professional services to i365
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