Things to consider about the LinkedIn password hack

John P. makes good points

Thoughts on Cloud Backup adoption by the SMB market

I have read a few articles lately regarding the adoption of Cloud based backup by the SMB market. There seems to be some question as to why this adoption is accelerating. The experts like to point out that most solutions don't even offer proper version history for files. Then there are the typical performance issues of backing up and recovering data across the Internet. So what is driving this increased adoption of basic Cloud based backup within the SMB community?

In my opinion the biggest factor is something that I learned years ago when I was just out of school and found myself selling Life Insurance for New York Life. Simply put, something is better than nothing. Many SMBs have struggled with traditional methods of data protection. Many lack redundant DR locations so they have historically used local media. Tapes are a nightmare to manage. Validating backed up data by test restore is only done a fraction of the time. The IT staff in a typical SMB simply can't know or show with any certainty that their data has been backed up, is valid, and can be restored in a timely fashion to meet their SLAs. Of course there are many more advanced and expensive DP solutions that can be implemented, but remember we are talking about a small IT staff and tight budgets at your typical SMB.

Cloud based backups to the rescue. There are several positives from an SMB perspective to Cloud backup. Lower initial investment in hardware, software, and qualified staff are just a few.  Access to the data from any Internet connection versus tapes locked away inside some mountain is also extremely important. Now when the one and only Systems Admin quits the boss can still get access to the data without having to be an admin themselves. There is a certain piece of mind that comes with logging in and seeing all of the data in tact. Not to mention that it is much easier to actually perform test restores from the Cloud.

I expect to see this trend of adoption continue. I also expect that the next step past just basic data backup to the Cloud will be true Cloud based DR. Even past that you will see the SMB adopting Hybrid, Private, and even Public Cloud  models with increasing frequency. Staffs are limited, office space is at a premium, budgets are tight, and to be successful an SMB must be agile. It just makes sense.