Category: BaaS

Backup as a Service (BaaS) blog topics, including Cloud to Cloud Backup, Veeam Backup and Recovery Services, Veeam Cloud Connect, IBM System i Backup and Recovery, Data Archiving, and more.

3 Steps for Effective Data Backup and Recovery

March 30, 2023

Storagepipe Shares Data Protection Insights on World Backup Day 2023

Events around the world over the past few years have highlighted the importance of preparing a backup plan for all of your critical business operations – customer-facing, backend technical, and organizational alike. Especially since ransomware attacks grew by 41% in 2022.

Naturally, disaster recovery planning with comprehensive data backup, testing, and implementation should be at the top of the priority list given the positive impact on all three areas.

When done right, reliable disaster recovery planning and data backup services help businesses to retain and repair their reputation in the midst of a crisis. Businesses utilizing service providers can also tap into domain expertise and practical hands-on support to provide clear roles and direction to employees, partners and vendors in the event of an emergency.

When done poorly, recovery during a disaster can be challenging and leave an organization reeling with significant consequences and without a clear path out of the mess.

Here are our top 3 steps to ensuring effective data backup and recovery:

Step 1: Empower Your Workforce and Protect Your Cloud Data

Given the continuing prevalence and necessity of remote work into 2023 and likely beyond, providing flexible and protected collaboration and communication applications like Microsoft Office 365 is critical to the viability of many organizations. Enabling secure remote access to Teams, SharePoint Online, Exchange Online and OneDrive for Business will protect your business functions and ensure that entry points are inaccessible to external intruders.

User-generated data must also be synced and backed up at regular intervals. Protect application data and your business against user error and insider threats, malware and ransomware, and unexpected downtime with Storagepipe’s Microsoft 365 Cloud to Cloud Backup.

This service securely connects to your Microsoft 365 tenant and captures all the changes to ensure rapid and automated protection across your critical Microsoft 365 apps for continued accessibility and reliability.

Explore Storagepipe’s Endpoint Protection solution for details on how to also securely protect remote workers’ devices and their data with Managed Anti-Virus and Endpoint Backup services.

Step 2: Enable a Multi-Layered Data Loss Prevention Strategy

There are many proactive data protection options for businesses to choose from, and oftentimes a multi-layered approach works best. While it takes time and effort to configure, monitor, patch and upgrade systems and applications, as with most situations in life, it’s less costly to prevent a data loss problem than to attempt to cure it.

Experienced service providers can alleviate the day-to-day burden on your IT resources and provide you with an additional line of defense by ensuring your systems are always up to date through regular server monitoring and management. You may also be able to take advantage of services to help with patching, updates and testing, and cool-headed emergency response.

Reliable Backup and Recovery enables businesses to meet their Recovery Point Objectives (RPOs) and is an absolute must for any DR response. Many companies happily optimize their resources and slim down their operating expenses by utilizing Backup as a Service (BaaS) to extend their on-premise backups to the cloud. Backup and Replication with Veeam Cloud Connect plus Cloud to Cloud Backup enables you to seamlessly protect your data across VMware, Hyper-V and your critical SaaS applications such as Salesforce, Microsoft 365 and G Suite. And if you are already using the public cloud, make sure to enable cloud mobility as well as safeguard your AWS, Azure, and IBM Cloud data with Public Cloud Backup.

Are you a Veeam or IBM user? We have specialized options for both platforms!

How strong is your safety net? Download our Ransomware and Disaster Recovery Insights for Hybrid IT Environments report to discover the concerns, predictions and challenges of engineering, security, IT and operations leaders in hybrid IT environments.

Step 3: Take Advantage of World Backup Day to Assemble Your Team and Disaster Recovery Plan

Regardless of internal user error, ransomware attacks, or when a natural disaster strikes, ensure your business continuity by meeting your operational demands while protecting and recovering your most valuable asset – your data

No matter the size, location, or industry, organizations need to take the time to put together a well-thought-out and practical strategy for implementing DR best practices and scheduled maintenance. Organizations should have an easy-to-understand step-by-step guide on what to do in a data emergency so that employees, partners and vendors understand their roles, responsibilities and the resources available to them before, during and after crisis strikes.

This critical operations and management strategy is also known as a Disaster Recovery Plan. Storagepipe has put together a template to guide you through the process and information that you need to gather, assess, and build upon for effective data Backup and Disaster Recovery. Download your copy of our DR Plan Template here!

Involving key stakeholders in your DR Plan creation can help to ensure that the information is thorough and clear to those that rely on it the most. World Backup Day is the perfect opportunity to raise the importance of having a DR Plan, or if one is already in place, to review, update and conduct a run-through using its instructions as your guide.

As a part of the DR Plan run-through, test your systems and assess if you are meeting your company’s recovery goals. Disaster Recovery as a Service (DRaaS) enables businesses to meet their Recovery Time Objectives (RTOs) on budget and on time, with offerings such as High Availability Replication and DRaaS for multi-platform systems, and Warm Site and DRaaS for virtual machines such as VMWare, Hyper-V and Nutanix. Specialized options are also available with Veeam Replication and DRaaS and IBM Replication and DRaaS.

Not sure what’s the best fit for you? Ask our Backup and DR Heroes today!

Storagepipe to the Rescue

Your Backup and Disaster Recovery Heroes

Storagepipe is a trusted global DRaaS provider of comprehensive Cloud, Data Protection and Cybersecurity services and can help to provide guidance as you work through your SMB or enterprise DR planning process.

Since 2001, Storagepipe has provided these robust and secure Managed Cloud and Disaster Recovery solutions from a scalable multi-tenant infrastructure, supported by our first-class in-house technical team. Storagepipe delivers highly flexible and responsive solutions with outstanding value and service, using state-of-the-art technology to offer ultimate protection and peace of mind.

We are driven to be your trusted partner and to ensure that we deliver a Storagepipe Experience that meets your business requirements with the reliability, scalability and support that your business demands.

Questions? Ask Our Experts!

Microsoft 365 Backup as a Service is Available on IBM Cloud Marketplace

March 7, 2023

At Storagepipe we are always looking for opportunities to expand the availability of our solutions to cloud users globally. Storagepipe is excited to share that our Microsoft 365 Backup as a Service offering is now available on IBM Cloud Marketplace.

Many companies using cloud-based SaaS applications are losing data, often due to employee errors or malware. To ensure data protection, business continuity and meet compliance demands, you need to protect yourself. Regardless of whether data is on-premises or in cloud infrastructure, ultimate responsibility for data protection lies with the customer or the data owner — you.

Storagepipe’s M365 Backup as a Service on IBM Cloud provides you with critical data loss prevention through automated backup and storage.

IBM Cloud Marketplace provides a sales channel for IBM Ecosystem partners to buy and sell their enterprise applications to IBM Cloud clients worldwide. Through the IBM Cloud Marketplace, customers can access Storagepipe’s Microsoft 365 Backup as a Service offering on IBM Cloud with single invoicing from IBM, IBM account integration, and a streamlined approach for deployment and management of these cloud solutions.

Storagepipe’s Microsoft 365 Backup as a Service offering joins over 400 existing offerings on IBM Cloud Marketplace.

ELIMINATE THE RISK OF DATA LOSS FROM ACCIDENTAL OR MALICIOUS ACTS

Features & Benefits:

Automated and on-demand backup.
Minimizes risk of data loss and assures availability of data.
Point-in-time backup with built-in rules for selective user and content targeting.
Accurate, granular recovery of Microsoft 365 content—including mailboxes, tasks, calendars, files, Public Folders, Groups, and Teams.
Restore your data to its full and original state –including folder structures, categories, and more.
Helps meet retention, audit and compliance requirements for recovery.
Protection from accidental deletion, security threats and retention policy gaps.
Meet legal and compliance requirements with efficient eDiscovery.
Reduces employee downtime by easily restoring lost data.
Keeps email and files protected indefinitely without upgrades or purchasing more licenses.
Export and report on backed up data.
Stores all your Microsoft 365 data in secure offsite storage, separated from Microsoft’s platform.

The catalog of offerings on the IBM Cloud Marketplace empowers over 600,000 individual site visitors monthly, including users from Fortune 500 companies, with the solutions they need to support their digital transformations.

Storagepipe provides an easy way to help protect business critical Microsoft 365 information. Cloud-to-Cloud backup and recovery services integrate seamlessly with your normal use while meeting your policy, compliance and disaster recovery requirements. This offering can prevent customers from losing access and control over Microsoft 365 data, including Exchange Online, SharePoint Online, Microsoft Teams and OneDrive for Business. By using Storagepipe’s Microsoft 365 Backup as a Service, customers can ensure that their data is always hyper-available and protected.

For more information, visit
• Storagepipe
• Storagepipe on IBM Marketplace

About IBM Cloud Marketplace

For more information on IBM Cloud offerings, click here.

This Holiday Season Don’t Let The Backup Grinch Steal Your Time

December 1, 2022

As we approach the holiday season, no one wants to be recovering data when they should be spending precious time with family and friends. Unfortunately, IT departments are too often required to respond to emergencies during the holidays because of the 24/7 nature of modern business. Customers and prospects continue to interact with businesses online, even when the brick and mortar doors are closed.

This powerful, always on business strategy requires an equally powerful backup plan. Thankfully, while businesses and their IT departments no longer operate on a nine-to-five basis, neither does the support to help them through the holidays. Client interaction and client support happen more instantaneously than ever before, with 24/7 accessibility.

Is your business prepared for disaster this holiday season?

What Is Your Data Loss Plan?

Data loss can occur in several ways. A device can be lost or stolen. Hardware can fail or become corrupted. A simple click can introduce ransomware into networks and cause widespread, crippling infection. Malicious hackers love the winter holiday season – they know that in-house IT hours are reduced, and businesses have their guard down.

In seconds, tons of valuable data can be locked down or obliterated. All that is left is a business clambering to repair their relationships with clients and vendors, while spending large amounts of money and time trying to get things back up and running. A small error can create a calamity that requires all hands on deck, and that some businesses can never fully recover from.

You must ask yourself: if your company were caught in a similar scenario during the holidays, do you have a disaster recovery plan in place to quickly respond and get back to business? Would you be able to recover, or would your operations grind to a halt?

Disaster Recovery to the Rescue

It is possible to keep things running smoothly even when trouble arises. The DRaaS advantage lies in its ability to provide complete and rapid cloud recovery services. These services range from site and transactional restoration, to full data center recovery and failovers.

Because DRaaS is cloud-based, you won’t need to make a heavy upfront investment in a data center, servers, or software licenses to get your own remote backup and DRaaS solution. DRaaS additionally benefits enterprises by replacing huge capital expenditures with more manageable operational expenditures, making DR accessible to and affordable for any size organization.

For more information and insights, read our Disaster Recovery Guide now to learn what you need to be prepared.

Storagepipe Will Save Your Holiday Season!

Whether it’s a data breach, a power outage, a hard drive failure, or a storm or other disaster – restoring your service in the case of a disaster should be a paramount concern for any organization and requires a thorough Disaster Recovery Plan.

Data backup and security is important all-year round. If you’re lucky enough to be a Storagepipe client already, you can rest assured that your data is safe with our secure Backup and Disaster Recovery Services.

If you haven’t signed up yet, take advantage of our Christmas 2022 special and get up to 70% off on select services. Contact us for an expert assessment and pricing today, and rest easy during the holidays!

Stay Safe in the Cloud with Storagepipe

Questions? Ask Our Experts!

Data Protection, Backup & Recovery Trends Report 2022: Wrap Up the Year with Storagepipe

November 30, 2022

Hello friends,

We’re wrapping up the year with our annual Data Protection, Backup and Recovery Trends Report, where we share the most urgent, prevalent, and emerging challenges that we helped our customers solve with managed Cybersecurity , Backup as a Service and Disaster Recovery Services.

As we look back on 2022, we appreciate all the customers, partners, and supporters that joined us through a challenging winter, a fast-paced summer, and an autumn jam-packed with new opportunities.

Understanding this past year’s trends helps you to establish a benchmark as you consider your organization’s Data Protection opportunities and challenges and begin to plan for 2023.

Microsoft 365 Migration Shifted to M365 Data Protection

After a rapid adoption phase in 2020 – 2021 spurred by expected growth in digital transformation initiatives and the unexpected Covid-19 pandemic necessitating a massive shift to remote and hybrid work models, IT departments began reassessing their data protection needs in 2022.

In the rush to adopt, migrate, and deploy, data protection considerations can be overlooked. While many appreciate the collaboration made possible with Microsoft 365, some are unaware that the protection of data generated by these applications is their business’s responsibility. Microsoft does not perform backups on a company’s behalf, and they do not provide recovery services.

Microsoft’s Shared Responsibility Model states that they are responsible for ensuring that the platform remains accessible and available, while the customer is responsible for ensuring that their data is backed up and recoverable in the event of a disaster. If an adverse incident such as a security breach or ransomware attack strikes, Microsoft will not recover your data for you.

The risk of falling victim to ransomware is ever-present, with phishing emails and their mishandling by end users continuing as the #1 vulnerability vector. Malicious actors took advantage of the trust people have in Microsoft’s brand by embedding well-known file types such as Excel and Word with malicious links and code and adding them as email attachments from addresses that include ‘outlook’ in their domain. These tactics almost doubled in popularity between Q1 and Q2 2022.

Throughout 2022, Storagepipe has spread awareness of these dangers to your data and worked with businesses of all sizes to put effective managed anti-spam, backup, and disaster recovery plans in place.

Learn how organizations can achieve complete Microsoft 365 Data Protection in our helpful guide here.

All Businesses At Risk For Ransomware

In 2020, bad actors attacked big, enterprise targets – companies that had the deep pockets to pay out. As those businesses strengthened their cybersecurity posture and disaster recovery plans in response, they became more challenging to victimize. This spurred a shift in tactics from the private to the public sector, as large healthcare, infrastructure and energy, and government organizations became the new favoured prey throughout 2021.
After several headline newsworthy incidents, the public sector began taking notes from the private sector’s hard-won lessons and shored up their backup and recovery, as well as their cybersecurity monitoring, detection, and response capabilities.

As large entities in both private and public sectors came under attack, insurance companies bore the brunt of hefty ransomware payouts and criticism that their policies were rewarding bad behaviour. Fast-forward to 2022, and the terms – and costs – of cybersecurity insurance policy renewals have become eye-watering and for some SMBs, prohibitive.

Large businesses and government agencies may be able to absorb the increased expenditures and resources needed to meet the new compliance requirements. However, small and medium sized businesses can struggle to justify the spend when comparing risks, costs, and benefits. Especially with the added assumption that malicious actors only focus their attacks on enterprise sized organizations.

In 2022, that assumption proved to be disastrously wrong. For starters, data protection safeguards against more than just ransomware. It protects organizations from insider threats, accidental deletion or other user errors. It also protects against facility and hardware failures triggered by outdated equipment, misconfigured networks, connection downtimes, and natural disasters that wipe out entire regions.

While other threats have always existed, small and medium-sized businesses were often considered less profitable targets than the Fortune 500 set. And while malware incidents were common, expensive, and disabling, ransomware attacks before 2022 were less common for SMBs. This meant that their backup, recovery, and cybersecurity requirements weren’t as high as their larger peers’, and in turn less investments were made in keeping critical data and systems secure.

As 2022 progressed, that norm rapidly changed.

Ransomware has transformed into a business type of its own, with Ransomware-as-a-Service models, organized programmers providing regular patches and updates, and entire departments dedicated to extorting and processing payments that enable malicious actors to grow their attacks at scale. Some ransomware groups even have toll-free phone numbers that victims are told to call for more instructions, and chat support teams that have queues of victims waiting to pay.

Like all businesses, they need to produce a profit. Cyberattacks on enterprises have become time-intensive, with uncertain success. Even if malicious actors can breach the increased defenses made possible by improved firewalls, anti-spam tools, and virus blockers, their intrusions are increasingly discovered and rooted out by sophisticated cyberthreat detection and response before they can launch the full attack and lock down the victim’s systems. When the attackers can make their ransomware demand, they are increasingly being rebuffed thanks to their victims’ growing ability to fully recover their data and environments with managed backup and recovery services, and reluctant insurance companies balking at the claims.

From the attackers’ point of view, shifting their efforts to less protected, unsuspecting small and medium businesses makes good business sense. While the revenue per attack may be less, the number of attacks and success rate more than makes up the difference. As a result, many SMBs have been devastated in 2022 by downtime, data loss and egress, system corruption, compliance liabilities, steep insurance deductibles and premiums, and reputational damage. For some, these impacts have led to permanent business closure.

As we near the end of 2022, businesses and organizations of all sizes now require enterprise-grade data protection, disaster recovery, and cybersecurity to ensure their business continuity into 2023 and beyond. Thankfully, there are flexible and cost-efficient services available such as Warm Site Disaster Recovery.

Managed Detection and Response (MDR) Has Changed the Playing Field

As threat actors become more prevalent, organized, and multi-pronged in their attacks, businesses need a more coordinated strategy to guard their three main attack surfaces – endpoints, networks, and cloud/SaaS – 24/7. Realistically, most businesses lack the resources to ensure that level of coverage, or the expertise required to keep up with the rapidly evolving threat landscape.

With the necessity, came the invention. Managed Detection and Response Services simplify cybersecurity management with all-in-one 24/7 analyst-verified threat data and prioritized, actionable observations and recommendations to identify and counter cyberthreats before they take hold.

Now businesses of all sizes can block, discover, and disable attacks before they lock down systems and data, denying bad actors the chance to ransom organizations out of business and completely changing the threat landscape playing field.
What are your thoughts on our Trends Report? Let us know!

Data Protection with Cybersecurity, Backup and Recovery Services 2023 Trends Forecast

For forward-looking insights, check out what we’re expecting to trend in Cybersecurity services and Backup and Disaster Recovery services in 2023 as we help organizations plan and implement their cyber resilient Data Protection strategies.

Questions? Contact Us!

Data Protection 2023 Trends Forecast: Cybersecurity, Backup and Disaster Recovery Services

November 25, 2022

Check out what we’re expecting to trend in Cybersecurity services and Backup and Disaster Recovery services in 2023 as we help organizations plan and implement their cyber resilient data protection strategies.

Mandatory Cybersecurity Awareness Training

Storagepipe predicts that threat actors will continue to target end users with phishing and social engineering campaigns by spoofing well-known, trusted, and widely utilized B2B brands such as Microsoft, parcel and mail delivery service providers such as FedEx and DHL, and financial institutions. Human resource brands such as benefit providers or payroll portals are excellent examples of where this trend could head next.

Targeting victims using social media platforms is likely to escalate as well, especially with mixed signals emerging at the end of 2022 around what constitutes a verified account, who is truly verified, and who can be trusted. Malicious actors will take advantage of the confusion and yet again hide behind brands and identities that end users consider safe sources and contacts.

Businesses should treat all emails with attachments and especially those that prompt the user to login to a portal or share their credentials with a high degree of suspicion. Education around these and other best practices will shift from ‘smart to have’, to ‘need to have’ in 2023 as insurance companies stipulate mandatory Cybersecurity Awareness Training for end users and anyone else that has access to a business’s data, systems, and applications.

Cyber Resiliency from Data Loss Prevention to Recovery

Cyber resiliency is top of mind for most IT leaders as they navigate an increasingly complex security and threat landscape where the likelihood of ransomware attacks has transitioned from ‘if’ to ‘when.’

Malicious actors are attacking companies of all sizes, necessitating an enterprise-quality strategy and scalable toolset for small, medium, and large organizations.

Storagepipe predicts a steep increase of small and medium sized businesses taking advantage of emerging and cost-effective services. This increase in mid-market adoption will be driven by IT departments facing an uphill battle with escalating compliance requirements and sophisticated attacks across their endpoints, networks, and SaaS. Realistically, most SMBs lack the resources or expertise to ensure that level of coverage on their own.

IT leaders should ask themselves, ‘Do I have the people and tools to protect the business’s most valuable information assets 24/7?’

2023 will see an increased awareness around the benefits of a multi-layered Cybersecurity framework to protect IT environments. Savvy businesses will look for solutions that provide cyber resiliency, which encompasses Data Protection and Cybersecurity services to deliver combined data loss prevention and recovery capabilities.

Incident and Cyberattack Prevention

Many IT departments are overwhelmed with ‘noise’ from false alarms, activity logs, and putting out day to day fires that stealthy attacks can go undetected until it is too late. Preventative methods such as Managed Detection and Response services simplify cybersecurity management with all-in-one 24/7 threat monitoring, analysis, and response across the three main attack surfaces – endpoints, networks, and cloud/SaaS. MDR services provide businesses with analyst-verified threat data and prioritized, actionable observations and recommendations to identify and counter cyberthreats before they take hold.

Often seen as a recovery tool, backups are earning a spot in the prevention toolbox too. Storagepipe has seen demand for immutable backup options surge. Immutability prevents threat actors from altering your local and cloud backup files, enabling resiliency from disaster by ensuring that you have an uncorrupted copy of your most critical data. Immutable backup copies also enable businesses to meet internal and external retention compliance requirements. Storagepipe provides cloud-based insider protection plus retention built-in with Veeam Backup and Recovery services. We also offer local and cloud-based immutable storage, along with air-gapped archival services for secure long-term data retention.

Regular Cybersecurity Awareness Training empowers employees to spot malicious emails and other attempts to trick them into revealing sensitive details, directly preventing incursions. Managed Anti-Spam services reduce the frequency that end users are faced with malicious email in the first place.

Disaster Recovery and Business Continuity

Recovery options in 2023 will broaden for companies of all sizes, with service providers developing solutions to help meet the demand for rapid recovery at different price points. While data protection was once considered cost-prohibitive for some small and medium-sized businesses, now disaster recovery services like Warm Site Disaster Recovery enable SMBs to achieve critical data and system recovery within a reasonable time and a reasonable budget.

As public cloud platforms continue to grow in popularity, companies will seek to build resilient and flexible backup and disaster recovery plans that grow at scale with their business, no matter where their data and systems reside. Adherence to the 3-2-1-1 Backup Rule as a best practice will continue to gain traction as it supports recovery across hybrid and cloud environments.

The 3-2-1-1 Backup Rule recommends organizations have 3 copies of their data. At least 2 of those backups should be stored on different media, 1 of which needs to be offsite, and 1 that is offline. The 3rd copy can be local, or in the cloud. Veeam Cloud Connect helps businesses to ensure they have a copy of their data offsite by easily extending to the cloud for online Backup, Replication and Disaster Recovery. Services like specialized Public Cloud Backup as a Service for Azure, AWS, and IBM Cloud will support secure public cloud adoption throughout 2023.

Storagepipe also offers pre-configured local Veeam Appliances equipped with immutable storage, providing rapid recovery capabilities from ransomware attacks and other urgent threats. Extended cloud immutability offers longer-term cloud recovery capabilities and is a popular option for many businesses as we head into 2023.

Microsoft 365 Data Protection Continues

In the rush to adopt, migrate, and deploy Microsoft 365 over the past couple of years, data protection considerations may have been overlooked by some organizations. While many appreciate the collaboration made possible with Microsoft 365, some are unaware that the data generated by these applications is their business’s responsibility to protect. Microsoft does not perform backups on your behalf, and they do not provide recovery services.

Microsoft’s Shared Responsibility Model states that they are responsible for ensuring that the platform remains accessible and available, while the customer is responsible for ensuring that their data is backed up and recoverable in the event of a disaster. If an adverse incident such as a ransomware attack strikes, Microsoft will not recover your data for you.

Storagepipe will continue to spread awareness of these dangers to your data and work with businesses of all sizes to put effective managed anti-spam, backup, and disaster recovery plans in place.

Learn how organizations can achieve complete Microsoft 365 Data Protection in our helpful guide here or contact us today for a demo!

Understanding Shadow IT: Risks, Benefits & Solutions

August 22, 2022

What is Shadow IT?

The term Shadow IT refers to information technology applications, software, systems, services, and endpoint devices that are utilized by an organization’s employees and/or end users without their IT department’s approval and support, and oftentimes operate outside of the enforcement of protective policies, data loss prevention strategies, and recovery solutions.

Read on for insights on Shadow IT impacts, benefits, risks and solutions from surveyed industry leaders and our experts.

Want more info? Download the full Shadow IT trends report here.

How Common Is Shadow IT?

When Storagepipe and Gartner Peer Insights polled 349 technology leaders and decision makers, over three quarters of respondents (78%) replied that Shadow IT is currently occurring at their organization.

Is Shadow IT Good for Business?

The question of whether Shadow IT is good for business is a controversial one. When surveyed, tech leaders whose workforces are actively participating in Shadow IT had split opinions with 41% replying that the practice has had a positive impact on their organization, while 39% replied that it has had a negative impact.

While the above stats show that general positive sentiment outweighs the negative among those who use Shadow IT, when the extreme ends of the scale are examined, only 1% think that it has had a strong positive impact, while 3% report a strong negative impact.

Another curious detail is the 15% of respondents that replied that Shadow IT has had no impact, which begs the question: if there’s no positives to be gained, why keep it in practice?

When the data from all respondents (those that do and don’t have Shadow IT active today) is examined, 28% feel that Shadow IT is somewhat positive, 32% say it’s neither positive or negative, and 29% say it’s somewhat negative, suggesting an uneasy overall ambivalence.

That is, until you look at the extreme ends of the scale again. This time, 3% of respondents reply that Shadow It is very positive, and 7% reply that it is very negative.

What is driving such a mixed reaction, despite the potential risks? Let’s find out…

What are some potential risks of Shadow IT?

Since many organizations struggle to monitor Shadow IT data use or the extent of confidential, sensitive, or proprietary information sharing occurring, data leakage is a major, underreported problem that is going unaddressed in many organizations. Left unchecked, this usage may have larger cybersecurity, compliance and competitive consequences that are difficult to assess and fully appreciate until it is too late.

For example, “Organizations can’t protect what they don’t know exists,” shares Storagepipe CEO and President, Steven Rodin. “Shadow IT eliminates organizations’ ability to use their standard backup and retention policies or disaster recovery plan to recover affected data and applications. These systems exist outside of their control and create big gaps in data protection and business continuity that can result in critical and damaging data loss, downtime, and regulatory penalties.”

While it is tempting to value the upfront workload relief, smart technology leaders know that their IT workload will explode into an unmanageable mess the moment their company’s use of Shadow IT becomes a vector for a cyberattack, leads to customer data loss and compliance action, enables insider threat actors to walk away with intelligence and into the arms of a competitor, or a myriad of other equally damaging disasters occurs.

What are some potential benefits of Shadow IT?

Despite the risks, the use of Shadow IT is persistent and widespread across all industries and business sizes, suggesting that there are positives for employees and the companies where they work.

Surveyed respondents agreed, with 92% indicating that there are benefits to the practice, including increased innovation (50%) and improved end-user satisfaction (40%). Increased IT agility, improved end-user productivity, and reduced IT workload tied for third place (36%).

Organizations can learn from employees who utilize unapproved applications such as large file sharing and storage tools, project management software, appointment-booking and other aides for their personal and professional convenience. Companies can gain insights on where there are gaps in the approved technology stack, assess the benefits that these rogue tools deliver, compare against their evolving business needs, and potentially bring them out of the shadows and into the approved fold. This will enable the organization to benefit from their full potential while also enjoying protection and oversight from the IT department to reduce risk and effectively respond to incidents.

Are there hidden costs in Shadow IT?

Considering that ‘reduced IT workload’ benefit ranked high, there may be pushback from IT staff when asked to monitor and manage this additional workload and the dedicated resources and budget that requires.

Efforts are being made at many companies despite the challenges. Of the respondents whose workforces currently practice Shadow IT, 73% spend up to 20% of their overall IT budget on the practice.
Despite these investments, 74% shared that while IT has some oversight with Shadow IT, gaps remain.

Shadow IT Solutions: MDR (Monitoring, Detection & Response) and Disaster Recovery Planning

What if organizations could harness the benefits that Shadow IT delivers while proactively mitigating the risks in real-time and keeping their IT workloads and budgets under control?

As 13% of respondents with Shadow IT know, continuous monitoring and centralized control procedures can provide effective and comprehensive visibility and management. Also known as monitoring, detection, and response (MDR), this managed service is focused on the security of endpoints, the network, and the public cloud, providing visibility into the Shadow IT realm. Whether an end user plugged a device into the network or installed a questionable program on their computer, MDR can identify, assess, and resolve many issues introduced by Shadow IT before they become problems for the business.

Storagepipe always recommends a multi-layered approach to cybersecurity and IT-related business continuity. In addition to MDR, establishing organization-wide guidelines such as a disaster recovery plan (get our template here!) can help uncover and document Shadow IT elements, and consistent cybersecurity awareness training can inform and support employees to avoid risky behavior. Encouraging and where possible mandating Two Factor (2FA) or Multifactor Authentication (MFA) can help keep systems and applications secure, even those without official IT oversight.

Lastly, the first step that every organization should take in their data protection strategy is to implement a backup and recovery solution that can protect their on-prem, cloud, and SaaS data and systems, works for their budget and business model, and meets their Recovery Point Objectives and Recovery Time Objectives. After all, you can’t recover what you haven’t saved.

Want more insights about Shadow IT and quotes from leading technology professionals on how they’re approaching the challenges? Get the full Storagepipe and Gartner Peer Insights Shadow IT survey report here.

Want to see how these solutions can work for you? Contact us!

How MSPs Can Generate High-Margin MRR with Cloud, BaaS & DRaaS

July 6, 2022

Listen in as Charles Weaver from MSPAlliance chats with Steven Rodin, CEO of Storagepipe on how responsive backup and disaster recovery services enable business continuity for MSPs (Managed Service Providers) and their customers. Want to listen on the go? Check it out on Apple Podcasts here.

Highlights:
• Enabling new high-margin monthly recurring revenue streams
• Leverage an experienced disaster recovery partner to help win deals
• Offer the latest hybrid, public cloud and Microsoft 365 data protection services

Business Continuity for Data, SaaS, and Systems in the Cloud

Steven and Charles discuss the shift to remote and hybrid work over the last two years that appears to have staying power for the foreseeable future, further driving and sustaining the migration to SaaS, cloud and hybrid models. IT teams have been migrating applications and operations to private and public clouds at an accelerated pace to optimize and future-proof their organizations. With the COVID-19 pandemic, those cloud migration efforts may have been stepped up by necessity as teams became dependent on remote tools for distributed workforces and customers.

Have organizations left some cybersecurity, data protection and business continuity fundamentals behind in their rush to the cloud? Is making the shift from legacy on-premises tech to new, outsourced cloud-based platforms causing new challenges, especially when constrained by time and business pressures?

Listen to the podcast here or on Apple Podcasts to find out what the future holds.

“We’ve been talking 24 hours a day for two years on cybersecurity issues, and it’s not like storage has been edged to the side and it’s not like people aren’t doing storage anymore, but it just seems like we need to make sure that we’re talking about all the elements of the security and operational viability stack,” points out Charles Weaver, host of the MSPAlliance MSPZone Podcast.

“WE NEED TO MAKE SURE THAT WE’RE TALKING ABOUT ALL THE ELEMENTS OF THE SECURITY AND OPERATIONAL VIABILITY STACK.”
– Charles Weaver, MSPAlliance MSPZone Podcast Host

Looking for cloud migration trends and insights? Get our Cloud Migration Survey Report here!

Deliver Profitable Business Continuity and Disaster Recovery Services for Your Customers

Steven and Charles also discuss what MSPs need to provide in today’s connected and security conscious world to satisfy customers’ requirements for backup and recovery services. Customers are looking to safeguard their organizations against ransomware, user errors, and other evolving threats to their business operations and reputation. MSPs that add these services to their offering can attract new customers, cross-sell to existing customers, and increase customer retention all while generating high-margin monthly recurring revenue (MRR).

“To give advice to the MSPs out there, Backup for Microsoft 365 is a great entry-point for many customers. It’s a good way of landing new customers, it’s a good add-on service if you’re already working with a customer that’s on Microsoft 365; so, it’s a great opportunity to show additional value to your customer base,” shares Steven Rodin, CEO at Storagepipe.

“TO GIVE ADVICE TO THE MSPs OUT THERE, BACKUP FOR MICROSOFT 365 IS A GREAT ENTRY POINT FOR MANY CUSTOMERS.”
– Steven Rodin, Storagepipe CEO

MSPs often face challenges with financial resources to develop in-house talent, systems, and processes. Partnering with a data protection and recovery specialist can fast-track MSPs on the path to successful portfolio expansion and new revenue streams without the typical start-up headaches. “A lot of small and mid-sized MSPs might already be doing backup, but now they want to get into disaster recovery and that’s where they turn to us to get more advanced and they maybe want to get into systems that they haven’t dealt with before,” says Rodin.

Implementing Internal MSP Backup and Disaster Recovery Helps Showcase Services to Customers

Weaver recalls a handful of conversations with folks in the industry who have pointed out that it is important for the MSPs themselves to be backing up their operational mission-critical data. “Every MSP ought to be doing at the very minimum everything that they do for their customers, on themselves. I mean, that seems to me just common sense.”

“EVERY MSP OUGHT TO BE DOING AT THE VERY MINIMUM EVERYTHING THAT THEY DO FOR THEIR CUSTOMERS, ON THEMSELVES.”
– Charles Weaver, MSPAlliance MSPZone Podcast Host

Rodin agrees. “I think that MSPs need to treat themselves like they would their customers, in a lot of ways. If they’re expecting their customers to take on new services and buy into the disaster recovery and backup space, then MSPs have to do it themselves. You want to be able to showcase the services that you sell by doing it internally. In fact, some MSPs that we’ve recently signed up, actually started with us internally and they liked the service so much that they started introducing it to their customers. I think that’s the key thing, because customers always want to know that you’re eating your own dog food, you’re following your own advice.”

“YOU WANT TO BE ABLE TO SHOWCASE THE SERVICES THAT YOU SELL BY DOING IT INTERNALLY.”
– Steven Rodin, Storagepipe CEO

Listen in to this episode of MSPZone to learn how Managed Service Providers can offer data protection to customers now and start generating new MRR with cloud backup and disaster recovery as a service.

Partner Program Enables Backup and Disaster Recovery Services for MSPs

The Storagepipe Partner Program provides a wide range of cloud, backup, and disaster recovery services for Managed Service Providers and Value-Added Resellers (VARs) of all sizes and in many industries, enabling partners to meet customers’ most complex and demanding data protection, business continuity and cloud challenges. With data center locations in the United States, Canada, and the UK, Storagepipe supports your customer requirements for data residency and compliance.

Join the Storagepipe Partner Program today!

Platinum Provider

Veeam Solutions and Services

Veeam Platinum Cloud Service Provider (VCSP)

Platinum Provider

Storagepipe, Veeam, Veeam Software, Veeam Backup and Replication, Veeam Backup and Recovery, Backup and Recovery, Veeam Backup, Backup, Cloud Backup, Cloud Backup as a Service, Cloud BaaS, Cloud Backup and Recovery, Cloud Recovery, Online Backup, Veeam Cloud Connect, Backup as a Service, Backup as a Service (BaaS), Backup as a Service BaaS, BaaS, Disaster Recovery as a Service, Disaster Recovery as a Service (DRaaS), Disaster Recovery as a Service DRaaS, DRaaS, DRaaS and BaaS, Disaster Recovery, DR, DR Plan, Disaster Recovery Plan, Disaster Recovery Planning, DR Planning, Disaster Plan, Disaster Planning, Managed Private Cloud, Private Cloud, Recovery Time Objective, Recovery Time Objective (RTO), RTO, Recovery Point Objective, Recovery Point Objective (RPO), RPO, Point-in-Time Recovery, Point in Time Recovery, Power i, Power i Backup, Power i Backup and Recovery, Power i Recovery, iSeries, AS/400, AS400, AS/400 Backup, AS400 Backup, IBM Backup, IBM System i, IBM i Systems, IBM System i Backup and Recovery, IBM System i Solutions, IBM System i Services, IBM Disaster Recovery, IBM System i Replication and DRaaS, IBM System i Replication and Disaster Recovery, IBM System i Replication and Disaster Recovery (DraaS), IBM System i Replication and Disaster Recovery DRaaS, iSeries DRaaS, iSeries BaaS, iSeries Disaster Recovery, iSeries Disaster Plan, Storage as a Service, Virtual Data Center, Virtual Infrastructure, Virtual Machines, Virtual Machine Backup, Virtual Machine Backup and Recovery, Virtual Machine Recovery, Virtual Machine BaaS, Virtual Machine DRaaS, Virtual Machine BaaS and DRaaS, VMs, VM Backup, VM Recovery, VM Backup and Recovery, HyperV Backup, Hyper-V Backup, Hyper-V BaaS, HyperV BaaS, Hyper-V Disaster Recovery, Hyper-V Recovery, Hyper-V DRaaS, HyperV DRaaS, VMware Backup, Hypervisor Backup, VMware BaaS, Hypervisor BaaS, Hypervisor DRaaS, Hypervisor Disaster Recovery, VMware Disaster Recovery, VMware Recovery, VMware DRaaS, VMware DRaaS, Nutanix, Nutanix Backup, Nutanix BaaS, Nutanix Disaster Recovery, Nutanix DRaaS, Storage as a Service, Storage as a Service SaaS, Virtual Managed Services, IT Managed Services, Managed IT Services, Backup Managed Services, Disaster Recovery Managed Services, Data Protection, Data Protection Services, Data Protection and Backup, Virtual Private Cloud, Backup and DR, Backup and DR Solution, Backup and DR Services, Backup and Disaster Recovery Services, Backup and Archiving, Eliminate Tape, Elimiate Tape Archiving, Backup Process, Offsite Storage, Local Backup, Local Backup Repository, Local Appliances, Local Appliance Backup, Veeam Appliance, Veeam Appliances, Veeam Cloud Connect Canada, Veeam Cloud Connect, Bare Metal Recovery, System Recovery, Bare Metal and System Recovery, Library Data Protection, Warm Site, Warm Site DRaaS, Warm Site Disaster Recovery, Warm Site Disaster Recovery Services, Warm Site Disaster Recovery as a Service, Warm Site Disaster Recovery as a Service (DRaaS), Data Archiving, Cloud to Cloud, Cloud to Cloud Backup, Multiplatform Backup, Public Cloud, Public Cloud Backup as a Service, Public Cloud Backup as a Service (BaaS), Public Cloud Backup as a Service BaaS, High Availability, High Availability and Recovery, High Availability and Disaster Recovery, High Availability and Disaster Recovery (DRaaS), Replication, Replication and Failover, Failover, Partial Failover, Full Failover, Multi-platform Backup, Multi-platform BaaS, Multi-platform DRaaS, Multiplatform DRaaS, Multiplatform Disaster Recovery, Cloud Infrastructure, Connectivity, Bandwidth, Connectivity and Bandwidth, Bandwidth and Connectivity, Colocation, Managed Datacenter, Cybersecurity, Security as a Service (SECaaS), Security as a Service SECaaS, Managed Firewall, Firewall, Managed Anti-Virus, Managed Anti-Spam, Managed Anti-Virus and Anti-Spam, Managed Anti-Spam and Anti-Virus, Threat Prevention, Help Desk, Help Desk Services, Helpdesk, Helpdesk Services, Managed Services, Managed IT Services, Server Monitoring, Server Management, Sever Monitoring and Management, Server Patch Management, Microsoft 365 Backup, M365 Backup, M365 Backup and Recovery, M365 BaaS, M365 DRaaS, Microsoft 365 Managed Services, M365 Managed Services, Office 365 Backup, O365 Backup, Office 365 Backup and Recovery, O365 Backup and Recovery, Migration and Management, Storagepipe, Cybersecurity, Security as a Service (SECaaS), Security as a Service SECaaS, Managed Firewall, Firewall, Managed Anti-Virus, Managed Anti-Spam, Managed Anti-Virus and Anti-Spam, Managed Anti-Spam and Anti-Virus, Threat Prevention, Help Desk, Help Desk Services, Helpdesk, Helpdesk Services, Managed Services, Managed IT Services, Server Monitoring, Server Management, Sever Monitoring and Management, Server Patch Management, Microsoft 365 Backup, M365 Backup, M365 Backup and Recovery, M365 BaaS, M365 DRaaS, Microsoft 365 Managed Services, M365 Managed Services, Office 365 Backup, O365 Backup, Office 365 Backup and Recovery, O365 Backup and Recovery, Migration and Management, Public Cloud Backup, Cybersecurity, Security as a Service (SECaaS), Security as a Service SECaaS, Managed Firewall, Firewall, Managed Anti-Virus, Managed Anti-Spam, Managed Anti-Virus and Anti-Spam, Managed Anti-Spam and Anti-Virus, Threat Prevention, Help Desk, Help Desk Services, Helpdesk, Helpdesk Services, Managed Services, Legal Practices, BaaS for Legal Firms, BaaS for Legal Firms, Data Backup Legal Firms, Data Backup Legal Practices, Government, Local Government, BaaS for Government, Backup for Municipalities, BaaS for Municipalities, Data Backup Municipalities, Data Backup Government, Microsoft 365 Backup, Ransomware, Ransomware Best Practices, Ransomware Protection, Ransomware Recovery, emerging technology

Veeam Cloud Connect

Easily extend to the Cloud for Backup and Replication with a trusted VCSP

Platinum Provider

Veeam Backup and Recovery

On-premise and Cloud Backup for all your virtual, physical and cloud environments

Platinum Provider

Storagepipe, iSeries Specialists, Disaster Recovery as a Service, Disaster Recovery as a Service DRaaS, Disaster Recovery as a Service (DRaaS), DRaaS, Backup as a Service, Backup as a Service (BaaS), Backup as a Service BaaS, BaaS, Cloud Infrastructure, Managed Services, Microsoft 365 Managed Services, Cybersecurity, Managed Private Cloud, Managed Firewall, Veeam Backup and Recovery, Veeam Cloud Connect, Veeam Solutions, IBM System i, IBM System i Backup, Warm Site and DRaaS, Multiplatform Backup, Storagepipe, Veeam, Veeam Software, Veeam Backup and Replication, Veeam Backup and Recovery, Backup and Recovery, Veeam Backup, Backup, Cloud Backup, Cloud Backup as a Service, Cloud BaaS, Cloud Backup and Recovery, Cloud Recovery, Online Backup, Veeam Cloud Connect, Backup as a Service, Backup as a Service (BaaS), Backup as a Service BaaS, BaaS, Disaster Recovery as a Service, Disaster Recovery as a Service (DRaaS), Disaster Recovery as a Service DRaaS, DRaaS, DRaaS and BaaS, Disaster Recovery, DR, DR Plan, Disaster Recovery Plan, Disaster Recovery Planning, DR Planning, Disaster Plan, Disaster Planning, Managed Private Cloud, Private Cloud, Recovery Time Objective, Recovery Time Objective (RTO), RTO, Recovery Point Objective, Recovery Point Objective (RPO), RPO, Point-in-Time Recovery, Point in Time Recovery, Power i, Power i Backup, Power i Backup and Recovery, Power i Recovery, iSeries, AS/400, AS400, AS/400 Backup, AS400 Backup, IBM Backup, IBM System i, IBM i Systems, IBM System i Backup and Recovery, IBM System i Solutions, IBM System i Services, IBM Disaster Recovery, IBM System i Replication and DRaaS, IBM System i Replication and Disaster Recovery, IBM System i Replication and Disaster Recovery (DraaS), IBM System i Replication and Disaster Recovery DRaaS, iSeries DRaaS, iSeries BaaS, iSeries Disaster Recovery, iSeries Disaster Plan, Storage as a Service, Virtual Data Center, Virtual Infrastructure, Virtual Machines, Virtual Machine Backup, Virtual Machine Backup and Recovery, Virtual Machine Recovery, Virtual Machine BaaS, Virtual Machine DRaaS, Virtual Machine BaaS and DRaaS, VMs, VM Backup, VM Recovery, VM Backup and Recovery, HyperV Backup, Hyper-V Backup, Hyper-V BaaS, HyperV BaaS, Hyper-V Disaster Recovery, Hyper-V Recovery, Hyper-V DRaaS, HyperV DRaaS, VMware Backup, Hypervisor Backup, VMware BaaS, Hypervisor BaaS, Hypervisor DRaaS, Hypervisor Disaster Recovery, VMware Disaster Recovery, VMware Recovery, VMware DRaaS, VMware DRaaS, Nutanix, Nutanix Backup, Nutanix BaaS, Nutanix Disaster Recovery, Nutanix DRaaS, Storage as a Service, Storage as a Service SaaS, Virtual Managed Services, IT Managed Services, Managed IT Services, Backup Managed Services, Disaster Recovery Managed Services, Data Protection, Data Protection Services, Data Protection and Backup, Virtual Private Cloud, Backup and DR, Backup and DR Solution, Backup and DR Services, Backup and Disaster Recovery Services, Backup and Archiving, Eliminate Tape, Elimiate Tape Archiving, Backup Process, Offsite Storage, Local Backup, Local Backup Repository, Local Appliances, Local Appliance Backup, Veeam Appliance, Veeam Appliances, Veeam Cloud Connect Canada, Veeam Cloud Connect, Bare Metal Recovery, System Recovery, Bare Metal and System Recovery, Library Data Protection, Warm Site, Warm Site DRaaS, Warm Site Disaster Recovery, Warm Site Disaster Recovery Services, Warm Site Disaster Recovery as a Service, Warm Site Disaster Recovery as a Service (DRaaS), Data Archiving, Cloud to Cloud, Cloud to Cloud Backup, Multiplatform Backup, Public Cloud, Public Cloud Backup as a Service, Public Cloud Backup as a Service (BaaS), Public Cloud Backup as a Service BaaS, High Availability, High Availability and Recovery, High Availability and Disaster Recovery, High Availability and Disaster Recovery (DRaaS), Replication, Replication and Failover, Failover, Partial Failover, Full Failover, Multi-platform Backup, Multi-platform BaaS, Multi-platform DRaaS, Multiplatform DRaaS, Multiplatform Disaster Recovery, Cloud Infrastructure, Connectivity, Bandwidth, Connectivity and Bandwidth, Bandwidth and Connectivity, Colocation, Managed Datacenter, Cybersecurity, Security as a Service (SECaaS), Security as a Service SECaaS, Managed Firewall, Firewall, Managed Anti-Virus, Managed Anti-Spam, Managed Anti-Virus and Anti-Spam, Managed Anti-Spam and Anti-Virus, Threat Prevention, Help Desk, Help Desk Services, Helpdesk, Helpdesk Services, Managed Services, Managed IT Services, Server Monitoring, Server Management, Sever Monitoring and Management, Server Patch Management, Microsoft 365 Backup, M365 Backup, M365 Backup and Recovery, M365 BaaS, M365 DRaaS, Microsoft 365 Managed Services, M365 Managed Services, Office 365 Backup, O365 Backup, Office 365 Backup and Recovery, O365 Backup and Recovery, Migration and Management, Storagepipe, Cybersecurity, Security as a Service (SECaaS), Security as a Service SECaaS, Managed Firewall, Firewall, Managed Anti-Virus, Managed Anti-Spam, Managed Anti-Virus and Anti-Spam, Managed Anti-Spam and Anti-Virus, Threat Prevention, Help Desk, Help Desk Services, Helpdesk, Helpdesk Services, Managed Services, Managed IT Services, Server Monitoring, Server Management, Sever Monitoring and Management, Server Patch Management, Microsoft 365 Backup, M365 Backup, M365 Backup and Recovery, M365 BaaS, M365 DRaaS, Microsoft 365 Managed Services, M365 Managed Services, Office 365 Backup, O365 Backup, Office 365 Backup and Recovery, O365 Backup and Recovery, Migration and Management, Public Cloud Backup, Cybersecurity, Security as a Service (SECaaS), Security as a Service SECaaS, Managed Firewall, Firewall, Managed Anti-Virus, Managed Anti-Spam, Managed Anti-Virus and Anti-Spam, Managed Anti-Spam and Anti-Virus, Threat Prevention, Help Desk, Help Desk Services, Helpdesk, Helpdesk Services, Managed Services, Legal Practices, BaaS for Legal Firms, BaaS for Legal Firms, Data Backup Legal Firms, Data Backup Legal Practices, Government, Local Government, BaaS for Government, Backup for Municipalities, BaaS for Municipalities, Data Backup Municipalities, Data Backup Government

Veeam Replication and DRaaS

Secure DRaaS within your Veeam Console

iSeries Specialist

IBM System i

Leading Service Provider for AS400 and IBM iSeries Backup and Replication services. Cloud and Disaster Recovery for Power Systems

iSeries Specialist

IBM System i Backup and Recovery

Specialized Online Backup and Disaster Recovery for IBM i (AS/400, iSeries)

iSeries Specialist

IBM System i Replication and DRaaS

AS/400, iSeries, LPAR, and Physical Systems

High Availability Replication and DRaaS

Rapid Replication & Failover, Multi-platform Replication

Microsoft CSP

Microsoft 365

Specialized Microsoft 365 Backup, Disaster Recovery and Managed Services

Multiplatform Backup

Complete and seamless data protection across Windows, Mac, Linux, and Unix operating systems

Platinum Provider

Cloud Backup for Microsoft 365

Specialized Online Backup and Disaster Recovery for Microsoft 365

VMware Cloud Verified

Cloud Infrastructure, Connectivity, Bandwidth, Connectivity and Bandwidth, Bandwidth and Connectivity, Colocation, Managed Datacenter, Managed Private Cloud, Managed Cloud, Private Cloud

VMware Managed Private Cloud

Enterprise-Class Software Defined Virtual Data Centers for agile, scalable, and high-performance private clouds

VMware Cloud Verified

Warm Site and Disaster Recovery as a Service (DRaaS)

Cost-effective DRaaS for VMWare, Hyper-V, Nutanix and even AIX and iSeries

Platinum Provider

Veeam Backup and Recovery for VMware

Complete and comprehensive Data Protection

3-2-1-1 Backup Rule Doubles as Margarita Recipe This Summer

May 16, 2022

As we enter the spring and summer months particularly this year, everyone is looking forward to getting outside, having food and drinks with friends, and generally enjoying themselves. And no one wants to be worried about whether their data is secure and protected during a hard-earned summer vacation – they’d rather be sure their company is safe while they’re on airplane mode. Thankfully, by implementing a reliable backup strategy, IT pros can have the best of both worlds.

Until recently, the 3-2-1 backup rule has been the go-to strategy for backing up data. It does have value since you end up with three copies of your data on two different media with one copy stored off-site. But in the era of cloud backups becoming more common and ransomware at its peak, backup and disaster recovery strategies are continuously evolving to keep up with new requirements. The 3-2-1 backup rule has evolved into the 3-2-1-1 rule which we are going to discuss today. What’s more, I want to introduce you to a 3-2-1-1 margarita recipe to reward yourself with after you are done implementing the backup strategy!

The 3-2-1-1 backup margarita recipe will help remind you how to develop your backup strategy so you can enjoy those patio nights with friends. Trust me that this recipe will ensure a good time for all and if you follow the same recipe for your backups, you’ll have peace of mind too!

3-2-1-1 Backup and Margarita Recipe in 1

So, let’s get to it. The core of your backup strategy is having 3 copies of your data; the same is true of having the 3 ounces of tequila that are core to this margarita. I recommend Storagepipe’s Veeam appliances for local backups and a good reposado for your margarita.
Then you need 2 backups of your data on different media; you also need 2 ounces of freshly squeezed lime juice to make this margarita taste great.

1 of those backups needs to be offsite to balance out your protection – I recommend Veeam Cloud Connect to ensure data is offsite and protected in the cloud; you also need 1 ounce of simple syrup to balance out the tart and sweet of this margarita.

And finally, with the recent spike in ransomware activity it’s always important to have 1 extra copy of the data offline or immutable to ensure recovery even in case of a cybersecurity incident to round out your protection. One teaspoon of orange liqueur like Triple Sec or Grand Marnier will round out this margarita also.

Now in practice putting together your overall backup strategy might take a bit more doing but following the 3-2-1-1 backup rule is a great start.

Follow These 3-2-1 Backup Rules for a Worry-free Margarita

Putting together the margarita is a bit more straightforward:

Fill a cocktail shaker with ice. Add the tequila, lime juice, simple syrup, and orange liqueur. Cover and shake for about 20-30 seconds till it’s mixed and chilled.
If you like a salted rim for your margarita, then that’s great too – run a lime wedge around the rim of a glass and press the rim into a small plate with salt (or salt/sugar mix).
Strain the margarita into the glass.

I hope your data stays protected so can enjoy this margarita recipe all summer long. But if you need some help remembering that backup strategy – pull out this recipe, get those backups done properly and then go get that bottle of tequila!

Cheers,
Steven Rodin
CEO, Storagepipe

Backup and Data Recovery Trends 2021 Vs 2022

December 20, 2021

Hello friends,

2021 marks Storagepipe’s 20th anniversary as a cloud backup and disaster recovery innovator and pioneer, and we couldn’t have done it without our customers, partners, and supporters like you. Thank you for your continued trust and collaboration, which gives us the opportunity to do what we enjoy everyday.

As we close out the year, here’s our annual roundup of Backup and Data Recovery Trends for 2021, and what we are expecting for 2022.

Ransomware Focuses on Infrastructure

Ransomware continued to threaten security for organizations of all stripes and sizes, with the European Union Agency for Cybersecurity (ENISA) reporting a 150% rise in ransomware attacks between April 2020 and July 2021.

Over the year, targeting became increasingly focused on certain sectors. Globally, there was a significant increase in attacks on industrial companies. CBC reports that in Canada, in 2021 ransomware attacks were focused on organizations providing critical infrastructure and services such as medical institutions, energy providers, and manufacturers. The US Treasury shared that ransomware payouts in 2021 could equal more than the total amount paid over the last decade. Given the profitability, security experts predict that ransomware cases will continue to rise in 2022.

Check out Storagepipe’s Ransomware Series where we discuss ransomware best practices and critical steps to evaluate your risk level, protect your business, and rapidly recover from data disasters.

Natural Disasters Causing Technical Disaster

The increase in natural disasters experienced worldwide in 2021 has highlighted businesses’ vulnerability to uncontrollable and localized disruptions to their facilities and hardware. A natural disaster may strike anywhere and occur in the form of fires, floods, hurricanes, winter storms, earthquakes, and lightening strikes that can cause power surges and other damage leading to significant downtime and costs. With the escalating rate of severe weather events happening worldwide, prevention of data loss due to natural disasters will continue to be a pressing concern in 2022.

Click here to read more on how to Enable Data Loss Prevention in Case of Natural Disasters

Remote Work is Here to Stay

2020 saw a mass migration of businesses and their workers moving to remote work, and the trend is here to stay. Storagepipe has helped our customers throughout the pandemic, from enabling businesses to rapidly adopt remote collaboration technologies like Microsoft Teams and SharePoint, to ensuring email continuity and integrity with Managed Anti-Spam. And as always, our core is backing up your valuable data and ensuring disaster recovery for your critical systems when emergencies strike.

Click here to see how you can securely support remote workers in the Cloud.

About Storagepipe

Storagepipe is a trusted global provider of comprehensive cloud, data protection and security services.

Since 2001, Storagepipe has provided these robust and secure Managed Cloud and Disaster Recovery solutions from a scalable multi-tenant infrastructure, supported by our first-class in-house technical team. Storagepipe delivers highly flexible and responsive solutions with outstanding value and service, using state-of-the-art technology to offer ultimate protection and peace of mind.

We are driven to be your trusted partner and to ensure that we deliver a Storagepipe Experience that meets your business requirements with the reliability, scalability and support that your business demands.

Have questions? Contact Us!

How Can Organizations Achieve Complete Microsoft 365 Data Protection?

October 20, 2021

Who’s Responsible for Microsoft 365 Data Protection?

Even seasoned IT professionals can receive an unpleasant surprise when disaster strikes their Microsoft 365 or other SaaS and Cloud-based applications and they haven’t planned for a recovery.

This occurs when businesses forgo implementing cloud-to-cloud backup and disaster recovery for their cloud-based data, applications, and systems, and instead rely only on the platform providers such as Microsoft, Salesforce, Google, and others to restore data as well as services.

While these providers maintain the infrastructure that hosts the cloud application and are responsible for its availability and general security, many of these providers have policies such as Microsoft’s Shared Responsibility Model that state that clients are responsible for backing up their own data and having disaster recovery in place for business continuity.

For more information on why organizations are wise to invest in Microsoft 365 Backup, get your copy of our M365 protection whitepaper today!

‘Your data is your business,’ and data protection extends into individual applications as well as the overall ecosystem. For example, while Microsoft Exchange Online has some built-in default outbound spam filters and inbound malware and spam filters available, IT administrators are responsible for making company-specific filtering customizations and policies that are designed for and applied to specified users, groups, or domains in their respective organizations.

Organizations are also responsible for implementing a multilayered cybersecurity strategy such as additional anti-virus and anti-spam solutions that can catch zero-day attacks and other evolving threats that are not included in off-the-shelf Microsoft Exchange Online filters.

How Important is Cybersecurity for Microsoft 365 Data Protection?

Email is the #1 malware and ransomware vector, ensnaring well-intentioned employees with increasingly sophisticated attacks. These include targeted campaigns that impersonate someone’s manager or another high-ranking colleague (known as whale-phishing), malicious attachments seeded with malware, and links leading to convincing faux login portals to familiar online services.

These security breaches can lead to extremely costly losses and expenditures for businesses, including downtime, interrupted sales revenue, operation and employee productivity disruptions, damages to reputation, legal issues with compliance and running afoul of regulatory mandates. In the worst-case scenarios, some companies make desperate and ill-advised ransomware payments that often fail to return the business to normal and verify for the attackers that the business is a paying target that they should hit again.

Why is Microsoft 365 Data Protection Complex to Manage?

Microsoft 365 is becoming more complex as new features are being introduced, which many organizations are discovering is a challenge to keep on top of as the technology evolves and their business grows. While extensive options and customizations for filtering can provide some security, they can also increase management time. Expansion of M365 adoption and use across applications like Microsoft Teams, SharePoint Online and OneDrive for Business is also making the system more complex to manage, and the resulting data is becoming increasingly valuable and critical to protect.

Faced with this complex landscape of time and expertise-intensive responsibilities in a hostile environment, many organizations seek out specialized services for cloud-to-cloud backup, and disaster recovery as a service (DRaaS) to supplement their IT capabilities and ensure data protection for their cloud-based applications and overall business continuity requirements are met.

Strengthen Your Microsoft 365 Data Protection and Cybersecurity Posture with Bundled Managed Cloud Backup and Anti-Spam Services

Cloud-to-cloud Backup as a Service (BaaS)

The redundancy that Microsoft 365 provides only ensures the availability of the present state of the data. It does not backup the data to protect against data loss events or retain data for longer-term policies of compliance.

Storagepipe’s managed backup as a service (BaaS) securely connects to your Microsoft 365 tenant and captures all the changes to ensure rapid and automated protection.

Experience specialized online Backup and Disaster Recovery services for Microsoft 365, including automated daily backups, point-in-time backup and accurate, granular restore, and long-term retention and storage capacity options.

Managed Anti-Spam as a Service

Achieve superior multiplatform, multilayered threat protection against ransomware, malware, spear phishing, email DDOS and undesirable emails with AI-powered filtering enabling an industry-leading 99.9% spam catch rate and a low false positive rate of 0.03%.

Unlike some off-the-shelf solutions, Storagepipe’s managed anti-spam services feature predictive technology that protects against zero-day attacks, frequently updated rules based on heuristics and Bayesian auto-learning, and configurable, detailed quarantine reports.

Ensure email continuity with inbound email queuing, automatic email resumption, and a personal email portal, enabling end users to never miss an important email.

Questions? Ask Us!

Microsoft 365 Services

Microsoft CSP

Microsoft 365 Data Protection Services

Cloud to Cloud Backup Services

Managed Anti-Virus and Anti-Spam Services

Veeam Replication and DRaaS

Warm Site and DRaaS

Storagepipe Acquired by Thrive for Canadian Expansion

Storagepipe Named Veeam Cloud & Service Provider Partner of the Year 2021 for Canada

Storagepipe Shares Data Protection Insights on World Backup Day 2023

Step 1: Empower Your Workforce and Protect Your Cloud Data

Step 2: Enable a Multi-Layered Data Loss Prevention Strategy

Step 3: Take Advantage of World Backup Day to Assemble Your Team and Disaster Recovery Plan

Storagepipe to the Rescue

Your Backup and Disaster Recovery Heroes

Features & Benefits:

About IBM Cloud Marketplace

What Is Your Data Loss Plan?

Disaster Recovery to the Rescue

Storagepipe Will Save Your Holiday Season!

Microsoft 365 Migration Shifted to M365 Data Protection

All Businesses At Risk For Ransomware

Managed Detection and Response (MDR) Has Changed the Playing Field

Data Protection with Cybersecurity, Backup and Recovery Services 2023 Trends Forecast

Mandatory Cybersecurity Awareness Training

Cyber Resiliency from Data Loss Prevention to Recovery

Incident and Cyberattack Prevention

Disaster Recovery and Business Continuity

Microsoft 365 Data Protection Continues

What is Shadow IT?

How Common Is Shadow IT?

Is Shadow IT Good for Business?

What are some potential risks of Shadow IT?

What are some potential benefits of Shadow IT?

Are there hidden costs in Shadow IT?

Shadow IT Solutions: MDR (Monitoring, Detection & Response) and Disaster Recovery Planning

Business Continuity for Data, SaaS, and Systems in the Cloud

Deliver Profitable Business Continuity and Disaster Recovery Services for Your Customers

Implementing Internal MSP Backup and Disaster Recovery Helps Showcase Services to Customers

Partner Program Enables Backup and Disaster Recovery Services for MSPs

Related Services

Veeam Solutions and Services

Veeam Cloud Connect

Veeam Backup and Recovery

Veeam Replication and DRaaS

IBM System i

IBM System i Backup and Recovery

IBM System i Replication and DRaaS

High Availability Replication and DRaaS

Microsoft 365

Multiplatform Backup

Cloud Backup for Microsoft 365

VMware Managed Private Cloud

Warm Site and Disaster Recovery as a Service (DRaaS)

Veeam Backup and Recovery for VMware

3-2-1-1 Backup and Margarita Recipe in 1

Follow These 3-2-1 Backup Rules for a Worry-free Margarita

Ransomware Focuses on Infrastructure

Natural Disasters Causing Technical Disaster

Remote Work is Here to Stay

About Storagepipe

Who’s Responsible for Microsoft 365 Data Protection?

How Important is Cybersecurity for Microsoft 365 Data Protection?

Why is Microsoft 365 Data Protection Complex to Manage?

Strengthen Your Microsoft 365 Data Protection and Cybersecurity Posture with Bundled Managed Cloud Backup and Anti-Spam Services

Cloud-to-cloud Backup as a Service (BaaS)

Managed Anti-Spam as a Service

Microsoft 365 Services

Microsoft 365 Data Protection Services

Cloud to Cloud Backup Services

Managed Anti-Virus and Anti-Spam Services

Veeam Replication and DRaaS

Warm Site and DRaaS