Protecting Business-Critical Data in the Cloud
Business disasters can occur at any given moment. If or when that happens, it’s critical to have a copy of your data. Ransomware attacks are becoming increasingly common, with some experts estimating that these attacks happen every 11 seconds. Having a data protection plan in place should be at the forefront of IT decision-makers’ thoughts when starting a new company or evaluating current business continuity strategies.
Many companies rely on on-premises data recovery as the main pillar of their disaster recovery plans. Having a second on-premises backup location is a great way to protect your business—but what if your backup fails, as well? Ransomware attacks can cause all backups stored in the same system to fail, leaving businesses lost.
Stay Golden: Maintaining Master Data
A valid way to avoid a failure with on-premises backups is by storing an exact copy of the data in a third system. While this is an effective method, it can be a hassle for IT teams since it is more work than simply duplicating the data. An arguably more effective system is copying business-critical data to what is referred to as a “golden copy.”
A golden copy is the master version of data kept where companies store data that is required to run their day-to-day business. In the event of multi-system backup failure, this data will keep operations running while IT and security teams work to solve the problem.
With a golden copy, a company may still choose to have a secondary system of recovery. The benefit of the golden copy is that it is completely separated from the rest of the organization’s network in an air gapped location. By only allowing a handful of employees access to the golden copy’s location, organizations can greatly reduce the threat landscape.
Organizations have the luxury of choosing whether they store the golden copy of their data on-premises or in the cloud. As the cloud has evolved over the past few years, so has its ability to offer benefits to organizations looking to use the technology to enhance their data protection plan. Below, we explore some of those benefits.
Finding a Cost-Efficient Plan
Storing a golden copy of data in the cloud is cost-efficient to enterprises. Maintenance of an on-premises data center can become costly, quickly. Occasionally, the model of a specific data center can become obsolete. Having to transfer the data to a newer model can take away money and time from the business. Employees could be using that time to be adding additional value to the organization.
Technology solutions should be built to scale with the business. Cloud data centers better allow for growth compared to an onsite system that is trapped within four walls, so to speak. Storing critical business information in an air gapped space enables customers to protect their data from any cloud file system and allows for space to add more information if needed.
Prepare for the Worst With Cloud Data Protection
Protecting company data is the same as protecting a house. No one wants their home broken into and ransacked. Storing a golden copy in the cloud is the same as having high-powered security guarding your house against intruders.
When working with employees—no matter how great the team is—there is always the possibility of user error or an unplanned event such as a cyberattack. Cloud protection minimizes the chance of user error. Having a golden copy in an air gapped cloud location gives IT workers, who otherwise would have been preoccupied with maintenance of an on-premises location, the ability to fully focus on other priorities. And keeping a business’s critical data in a location known to only a few further decreases the chance of user error.
In the case of a network outage, backups on the cloud are significantly quicker compared to on-premises storage that needs to recover from a second location. Keeping data in the cloud will give authorized users access from predetermined locations as needed.
Disaster can strike at any moment. Organizations can prepare for any unlikely event by storing a golden copy of business-critical data in an air gapped cloud location.
