Emerging Trends In Cloud Data Protection

Thrive was founded in 2001. And a lot has changed in the past 15 years.

Back in 2001, the world was very different.

• Twitter, YouTube and Facebook had not yet been created.
• The most popular TV shows included FRIENDS, X-Files and Star Trek Voyager.

For Thrive there have been a number of important changes, when it comes to the way consumers and businesses approach data protection in the cloud.

Early on, the focus was really all about “backup”.

• Most companies performed backups to tape, and the idea of backing up the cloud seemed novel and interesting.
• From a cost perspective, online backup was often less expensive than the cost of shipping and storing backup tapes off-site.
• From a maintenance perspective, cloud backup offered time saving automation.
• Automation also helped improve security, since it eliminated the possibility of human error.
• Cloud backup providers also benefited from economies of scale that allowed them to provide better technology and higher levels of service, for a much lower cost than a self-managed in-house solution.

Although some were initially reluctant to move on-premises systems into the cloud, the experiences of early adopters were overwhelmingly positive. The cloud had been shown to over-deliver on its promises of convenience, security and cost savings. And now, confidence in the cloud has spread into the mainstream.

Even the most conservative IT administrators are now looking to host at least a portion of their IT infrastructure.

But back then, the main benefit that Thrive offered to its customers was “preservation of data”. Clients were primarily concerned with making sure that data could be securely protected for the long term, and that it could be easily recovered when needed.

Today, the cloud is used for storage, file sharing, backup, and a wide range of different applications.

And from a data protection perspective, the business world has changed significantly.

• Offices have gone from a 9-to-5 schedule, to a 24-hour schedule.
• For consumers, 1-800 support numbers are being replaced by online self-service portals.
• Mainstream news outlets now lag behind social media, when it comes to delivering news about major events.
• M2M, mobile devices and Big Data have caused exponential growth in the amount of data that businesses need to protect.
• Companies are increasingly deploying the majority of servers to virtualized environments, instead of dedicated hardware.
• Electronic discovery has transformed the legal system.
• Business is now truly global and borderless.

As a result of these trends, the tolerance for unplanned downtime is shorter than ever. Consequences are also more serious than they’ve ever been.

The same customers who were resistant about backing up to the cloud 15 years ago, now have dedicated budgets for cloud solutions. And instead of data backup, they’re asking us about disaster recovery and high availability.

• It’s no longer just about getting their data back. It’s now about getting it back faster!
• It’s no longer just about restoring files. It’s now about restoring servers or entire datacenters!

In the past 15 years, the biggest shift we’ve seen in the data protection market have included the move from “data protection” to “disaster recovery”. And these changes will continue to unfold. Not only is technology changing, but the speed at which technology changes is also accelerating.

As an IT administrator, there are 2 ways that you can deal with this.

The Reactive Approach

The most popular approach is to deal with problems as they come. Every time you find a problem, you implement a new solution. It’s not uncommon for companies to have 5 or 6 different backup solutions implemented throughout their organization. Each of these requires time and money for maintenance, upgrades and changes. With this approach, most of IT’s time is dedicated to putting out fires.

The Proactive Approach

The other way is to take a proactive holistic approach. Outsource your backups to a trusted partner that can provide end-to-end service for all of your data protection needs, across every device in your organization. Just take all of your laptops, tablets and servers, and outsource their protection to a full-service provider that can handle everything through a single point of contact… and provide you with total peace of mind.

You don’t need to be bogged down with the minute details of managing 20 different processes. Let the experts worry about that. If your needs suddenly change in the future, this dedicated partner has the resources, expertise and experience to adapt to your situation.

With Thrive’s holistic approach to cloud data protection, you just set it and forget it. Your data protection will always be optimized to your needs.

Most importantly, handling your data protection in this way will free up IT time for core revenue-generating activities that benefit the company. This makes the IT department look good. Instead of simply being perceived as “computer mechanics”, they can be seen as an important tool for supporting corporate strategy.

At Thrive, we help IT administrators save time and money, while also making them look good. Our holistic approach is one of the reasons why we pride ourselves on a high rate of customer retention. You’re not just purchasing a solution to a backup problem. You’re teaming up with a partner that will simplify your data protection, and ensure that you can rapidly and efficiently adapt to new unexpected future changes.