There have never been more choices of where IT professionals can store and protect data. Today, almost all organisations rely on a patchwork of technology infrastructures. These range from sophisticated and multitiered physical data storage and cloud services to free consumer-grade file sharing. The use of virtual technologies is also on the rise. It is common practice to use all of them.
The challenge for IT teams therefore is not to find the perfect solution for each. Rather, it’s how to provide the back-up and disaster recovery their organisations need given such a patchwork of storage approaches. With this as a background, the future for data protection can best be described as messy!
Many IT professionals dream of imposing a universal storage policy, leveraging the cost benefits of technologies such as cloud and virtualisation. In this perfect future, they could mandate the uniform use of virtual machines from a single preferred virtualisation vendor – such a simple life is unlikely any time soon.
We recently commissioned a research study conducted by Spiceworks. The objective was to gain insight into mid-market data back-up and recovery practices including the role of cloud and virtualisation.
Today nearly half of data resides on physical systems and it is not going away in the near future.
For many small and mid-sized organisations with limited in-house IT resources, cloud storage is a very attractive proposition. Today, 48% of organisations are using cloud for data back-up and recovery and 30% are considering it. In three years’ time, cloud data back-up and recovery will overtake email as the number one cloud use case.
“In three years’ time, cloud data back-up and recovery will overtake email as the number one cloud use case”
But, can you manage what you cannot see? Some data needs to stay put. Safe and sound. Away from prying eyes. Available for regulators. Our survey saw financial, employee, and customer data widely regarded as unsuitable for cloud storage. GDPR will be implemented and 2017 should be the year company’s plan for it.
By all accounts, the report showed data protection is more varied than many predict. The reality is, all three types of infrastructure; virtual, physical, and cloud will co-exist well into the foreseeable future. Given this messy, chaotic situation the only logical solution is for IT execs to plan for a future where each and every technology option is catered for.
A starting point should be to work with a data management company that can provide not only single solution for virtual, physical and cloud environments but also one that can help you understand what Data they have and the value if it.
Peter Sondergaard stated in 2011 “Information is the oil of the 21st Century and analytics is the combustion engine” That was of course before oil prices dropped, but perhaps the dream we should all be chasing is one where we can manage our ever-growing data, and turn it into a positive, by using our digital currency in the right way.
Lorcan Kavanagh is senior sales director EMEA with Veritas
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