Cloud to Cloud Backup Evaluation: How Will You Access Your Backups

It happened. You lost or accidentally deleted or overwrote data that you absolutely need. Phew! Good thing you invested in a cloud to cloud backup solution. For those companies that purchase cloud to cloud backup, there is the obvious hope that no one at your organization ever has to use the solution. But when data loss does happen, how easily will it be for you to get your data back?

Access to backups and the general ease at which you can access a backup when data is lost should be key criteria for your company as you evaluate cloud to cloud backup solutions.

Some important questions to ask when you think about cloud to cloud backup vendors regarding access to backups:

•   Will the application hosting your backup data be available when you want it?
•   Will you be able to easily find the data you want to access or restore?
•   When you get to the data, will you be able to make use of it as you wish?

SLA on Uptime and Independence from Source Application

Any reputable vendor must include an uptime guarantee in their SLA and should have a very clear processes for compensating you if that threshold isn’t met. In addition to an SLA on uptime, your company may want to consider if a backup can be accessed if the source application is down. For example,  if Google Drive was unavailable and you needed a Google Docs word processing document from your Google Apps account, you’ll need to make sure that your backup provider allows you to log in even if Google Apps is down, AND that you’ll be able to download the document, AND that the download will give you the file in Microsoft Word. Different vendors will provide different levels of service for this use case.

Search Functionality

While search is used nearly every day in SaaS applications, you will only typically search a backup archive when data is lost. As a result, cloud to cloud backup vendors offer a wide variety of functionality across search so it’s important to understand what options will meet your company’s needs.

Browse Methodology

Search is typically the easiest way to find the information you’d like to restore or export but in cases where multiple lost documents are stored together, browsing can be useful as well. Find out the browse capabilities of your vendor, and the setup of backups which determine how you can browse the data. Is it listed chronologically? Do they maintain the folder structure you are used to? Do they provide simple filters to more easily browse and find what you need? Determine how you and your users would most effectively browse backups and understand the browse capabilities of your backup vendor.

Export/Download

There may be times when you need either a local copy of a document or an entire backup set on your hard drive. Understand whether your vendor allows you to export or download single items, multiple items, or entire backup sets. Remember that your export is only useful to you if the data is in a format you can read and use. Find out what formats the data will arrive in to make sure it meets your needs.

Accessing your backups is obviously a very critical component of backing up your data in the cloud so it’s important to ask the right questions around how you will be able to access a backup if you or anyone at your company loses data.

Evaluating cloud to cloud backup solutions and need more helpful information? Download the complimentary eBook below to help your organization make a smart choice on a cloud to cloud backup vendor.