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Increasingly complex business data means backups are ever more essential

Enterprise backup is an incredibly complex set of disciplines, including the classification of data, varying laws around data protection depending on geographic region.

Data risks and opportunities. (taken at Barbican, London). — Image by © Tim Sandle
Data risks and opportunities. (taken at Barbican, London). — Image by © Tim Sandle

The golden days of the “age of AI” bring a plethora of new considerations to keep top of mind when strategizing backup plans. One important thing that businesses need is a clear plan for data backups, and this is a procedural process that is recommended by many industry insiders.

One such commentator is Rob Price, Director of Solutions Consulting at Snow Software, as he explains to Digital Journal.

Looking at the changing world of business technology, Price states: “While we may live in a new, AI-powered world, the fundamentals and importance of backing up your data remain the same. Enterprise backup is an incredibly complex set of disciplines, including the classification of data, varying laws around data protection depending on geographic region, and requirements which may not be business-oriented but specifically relate to the sensitivity of the data in question.”

Having outlined the technicalities and need for data backup, Price sets out the case for regularly securing of data: “In addition to this, backups must also consider the various locations of data, including containers, virtual machines, archive solutions and even external systems, like Microsoft, which hold a significant amount of every organization’s data; all need to be considered for backup security and integrity.”

In terms of the resultant gaps, Price adds: “This does not even begin to address the issue of shadow IT and the implications for data security if you don’t know where data is being stored. The most volatile and important data at your organization should be prioritized with the fastest possible access, with the minimum downtime, but to do this, your data needs to be properly classified.”

Addressing these gaps requires expertise. Price recommends: “Enterprise backup is an incredibly complex set of disciplines, including the classification of data, varying laws around data protection depending on geographic region, and requirements which may not be business-oriented but specifically relate to the sensitivity of the data in question.”

Other areas where expertise is required includes the fact that “backups must also consider the various locations of data, including containers, virtual machines, archive solutions and even external systems, like Microsoft, which hold a significant amount of every organization’s data; all need to be considered for backup security and integrity. This does not even begin to address the issue of shadow IT and the implications for data security if you don’t know where data is being stored.”

Closing out his rationale, Price ends with: “The most volatile and important data at your organization should be prioritized with the fastest possible access, with the minimum downtime, but to do this, your data needs to be properly classified.”

The ideal backup solution will enable a backup script to a local destination and a backup transfer script to an offsite target. Using a transfer script to copy backups to a second location enables the administrator to perform the operation offline, without the original source needing to be used.

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Written By

Dr. Tim Sandle is Digital Journal's Editor-at-Large for science news. Tim specializes in science, technology, environmental, business, and health journalism. He is additionally a practising microbiologist; and an author. He is also interested in history, politics and current affairs.

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