Best Cloud Backup for Office 365 WP R2.Indd

eFolder WhitePaper:

HowtoChoosetheBestCloudBackupServiceforOffice365

January2015

Introduction

ThispaperisaresourceforIT-responsibleprofessionalsworkingincorporationsthatuseMicrosoftOffice 365.Ithasbecometheproductivitysuiteofchoiceformanyorganizations.Becauseitisacloud-basedservice,Office 365dataisstoredoff-premisesandisnotincludedinthebackupprotocolsyourcompanyhasestablishedforon-premisesdata.FormanyITmanagers,thisisnotaconcernbecauseOffice 365hastakenadequatemeasurestoensuretheintegrityofitsdata.Butlikemostothercloudserviceproviders,Office 365’sinfrastructureisdesignedtoensurecontinuityofserviceandsafeguarddatafromhardwarefailureonitsend.Whatitcannotprevent,however,areerrorsthatoriginateontheuserend.ThatiswhyMicrosoftrecommendsusingathird-partybackupsolutionfordatastoredonitssystem.

ThispaperwillhelpusersofOffice365determineifthirdpartyOffice365backupmakessensefortheirorganizationsand,ifso,howtodifferentiatebetweenthevariousvendorsprovidingthisservice.Thepaperbeginswithabriefsurveyofresearchfocusedontheriskofdatalossinthecloudanditsimpactonanorganization.Thisisfollowedbyadiscussionofthird-partyOffice365backupoptionsavailabletomitigatetheriskofdataloss.Focusingoncloud-based,Software-as-a-Service(SaaS)solutions,thispaperprovidesachecklistofrelevantquestionstoaskinordertohelpdifferentiatebetweenthetopprovidersofthirdpartyOffice365backupsolutions.Theobjectiveistohelpreadersdeterminethebestfit fortheirindividualorganizations.

1.Howcommonisdatalossincloud-basedservices?

Top5waysdataislostinthecloud

1.UserError-64%Registereduserswhoaccidentallydeleteoroverwritedata.

2.Hackers-13%

Outsiderswhogetintothesystemwithnefariousintent.

3.Closingaccount-10%Registereduserorproviderwhoclosesanaccount withoutregardforthedataleftbehind.

4.MaliciousDelete-7%Aregistereduserwhopurposelydeletesdata.

5.Third-PartySoftware-7%Unintentionaldataoverwritebythird-partysoftwareontheuser’ssystem.

Datalossoncloudplatformsismorecommonthanyoumightthink.AJanuary2013SaaSreportfromtheAberdeenGroupprovidedaclearpictureofdatalossinthecloud.Thesurveyshowedthat32%ofthecompaniesthatareusingSaaSserviceshavereportedlosingdata.

ReasonsforSaaSDataLoss

However,thisislessofareflection ontheplatformsthanitisonthepeopleusingthem.PlatformssuchasOffice 365rarelylosecustomerdata.Inalmosteverycase,datalossinthecloudistheresultofexternalforces.IntheAberdeenstudy,usererroraccountedfor64%ofdataloss.Thisisconsistentwiththefindings ofastudydonebytheITPolicyComplianceGroupthatshowedhumanerror,inoneformoranother,accountsfor75%ofalldataloss,whethercloud-basedoron-premises.

AccordingtotheAberdeenGroup’sreport,hackers,alongwithmalicious,purposefuldeletionofdata,wereresponsiblefor20%ofdataloss.Softwarecompatibilityandcorruptionissuesaccountedfortheremaining17%ofdataloss.

Thepointhereisthatdatalossincloud-basedservicesisarealthreat.Inalmosteverycase,datalossisnottheresultofhardwarefailureontheSaaSprovider’send,butiscausedbysimpleerrorsbyyourownwell-intentionedusers.EvenyourmostexperiencedusersarenotimmuneasillustratedbyapostbyAppleco-founderSteveWozniakonGizmodo,inwhichheexplainedhowathirdpartyappaccidentallyoverwrotehisGooglecalendarduringaroutinesystemupdate.Understandingbothhowdatacanbelostoncloud-basedplatformsandthedegreeofthatthreatarethefistepsinprotectingyourdata.

2.Whatimpactdoeslostdatahaveonanorganization?

Corrupt,missing,ordeleteddataisdisruptivetoacompanyonmanylevels,nottheleastofwhichisfinancial. A2013reportfromthePonemonInstitute,2013CostofDataBreachStudy:GlobalAnalysis,showed that the consequences of data loss can be financially significant.AreportcitingthissurveyfromITWorldstated:“Datalossescostcompaniesbig.Infact,onaverage,itcosts$136foreveryrecordlost.Andthatfinancial disincentiveiswhatspursmanyofthemtobe betterstewardsofourdata(oratleasttryharder).”

Thecostcanevenbehigherdependingonyourindustry.ThePonemonstudyfoundthatthecostofdatalosscouldbeashighas

$233perrecordlostforahealthcarecompanycomparedto$111for an educational institution.The average costof data loss can alsovarybygeography,withtheUSandGermanyinthetopspotsforabsorbingthegreatestfinancial impactforlostdata.

Datalosscanseriouslydisruptbusiness.AsanITprofessional,youknowhowdisruptivedatalosscanbetotheorganization.Quantifyingthecostofthatdisruptionhelpsclarifytheimportanceofprotectingclouddata.Themorereliantanorganizationisoncloud-basedservices,themorerelevantthispointbecomes.

3.Whataretheoptionsforreducingtheriskofdataloss?

Cloud-to-Cloud

BackupBasics

Alltheleadingcloud-to-cloudbackupservicesarecharacterizedbythesemain backupfeatures:

•Automation- Backupsoccurautomaticallyonapredeterminedschedule.

•Frequency-Backupsarerunatleastevery24hours.

•Security-ServerSideEncryption(SSE)and256- bitAdvancedEncryptionStandard(AES-256)

•Reliability-Durabilityandavailability ofserviceratingsinexcessof99%.

•SaaS-Requiringnopurchaseormaintenance of software.

•Pricing-Afreetrialperiodwithmonthlyfeeschargedperuseraccount thereafter.

•Autonomy-Serviceworksindependentofsourceapplication.

•SLA-Reasonableservicelevel agreements ensuringhighleveloffunctionality

anduptime.

Oneofthe challengescompaniesfacewithcloud computing isthedecentralizationoftheirbusinessdata.ITprofessionals,whooncecontrolleddatamanagementfromtheiron-premisesservers,nowexperienceasenseof“datascatter”.Inthisnewscenario,theresponsibilityofmanagingandsafeguardingtheorganization’sdatastillfallsontheITdepartment;however,muchofthatdataisnowbeyond their control, spread acrossseveral cloud servers. Thisnew,decentralizeddatalandscapeisoneofthemainreasonswhyfreshthinkingisrequiredtomitigatetheriskofdataloss.

Firstandforemost,regularbackupofyourclouddataisessential.Aprevalentmisconceptionamongcloudusersisthatcloudservicesbackuptheirusers’dataasageneralrule.Infact,33%ofrespondentsinonestudybelievethecloudserviceproviderisresponsibleforbackinguptheircompany’sdata.Unfortunately,thisisnotoftenthecase.WhileOffice365doesprovidelimitedbackupcoverage,mostcloud-basedservicesareprimarilyfocusedonbusinesscontinuity,notondatabackup.Theywanttoensurethattheirserviceisavailable to users, so they create secure, redundant systems. That’swhy mostSaaSproviders,includingOffice 365,recommendthe useofathird-partybackupprovider.

Thereareseveraldifferentoptionsforsafeguardingyourdatainthecloud.TheserangefromcreatingyourowncustomapptobackupdatafromyourSaaSprovider’sApplicationProgrammingInterface(API)tomirroringyourOffice 365datainrealtimeonyourownserverstomanuallyextractingthedatayourselfonaregularbasis.

ThebackupapproachrecommendedbymanySaaSproviders,includingOffice 365,isafully-automatedcloud-to-cloudbackup.Thispaperwillfocusonthiscategoryofbackup.Asthenumberofcompaniesusingcloud-basedservicestostorecriticaldatahasgrowninrecentyears,sohasthepopularityofcloud-to-cloudbackupservicesas afirst lineofdefenseagainstdataloss.

Thepopularityofcloud-to-cloudbackupisdrivenbymanyofthesamefactorsthatmadeorganizationsturntothecloudinthefiplace.Comparedtopurchasingasoftwareprogramordevelopingyourowncustomapplication,cloud-to-cloudbackupoffersseveraladvantages:

•Theupfrontcostiszero.

•Youcantestdrivetheproductbeforeinvestinganymoney.

•Implementationcanbedoneinamatterofdayscomparedtomonths.

•Thecostsandhassleofdevelopingsoftwareormanagingsoftwarelicenses,maintenance,andhardwarecompatibilityareeliminated.

•Upgradingtonewsoftwarereleasesiseffortless.

•Data can be accessed and managed from virtually anywhere.

•SaaSoffersease ofscalability togrowing organizations.

•OnemorebenefitisthatthereisalwaysanentireteamofdevelopersandspecializedITprofessionalsworkingevery daywithasingle-mindedfocus–makingthatoneapplicationthebestitcanbe.

OnceanorganizationhasdecidedthataSaaSbackupsolutionisrightforthem,thenextchallengeistodecidewhichoneisthebestfit.

4.HowcanIassessthedifferencesbetweenvariouscloud-to-cloudbackup services?

Ifyoutakealookatthetopthreecloud-to-cloudbackupsolutionsforOffice365,you’llfindtheysharemanycommonfeatures.Allprovidereliableautomatedbackupwithrobustdatasecurityandafreetrialperiod.Further,allhavesimilarpricingplansandtermsofuse.

However,beyondthat,theservicescanvaryconsiderablyintermsofeaseofuse,datamanagementfeatures,andtheproductvisionthatguidesdevelopmentmovingforward.Thesedifferencescanbequitedifficulttospotandtime-consumingtoassess.Forthatreasonwehaveincludedaconciselistofquestions(below)tohelpyoudifferentiatebetweendifferentofferingsaswellastodeterminewhich maybestsuityourorganization’s needs.

BeforecommittingtoanonlinebackupserviceforyourOffice365data,itisrecommendedyoutakeadvantageofthatservice’sfreetrial period.During thatperiod,be sureto compareservices in termsofthesecorefeaturesofcloud-basedbackupservice:

•Adding/deletingaccounts

•Schedulingbackups

•Performingunscheduled, manualbackups

•Customizingerrornotifications

•Searchingbacked-updata

•Restoringdata

•Dataoverview

•Reporting

•Support

Thesearethenineareaswhereyouarelikelytofindthemostvariabilityfromservicetoservice.Beyondthesefunctionalcomparisons,explorethefollowingareasinmoredepthtoensureacloud-to-cloudbackupproviderisbestsuitedforyourorganizationtodayandwellintothefuture.Thesetopicshavebeenseparatedintoservice-relatedissuesandserviceprovider-relatedissues.

Assessingtheservice

Howoftencandatabebackedup?

Servicesvaryintermsofhowoftentheybackupyourdatabeforeextrachargesareincurred.TheseadditionalchargesareoftentheresultofexceedingtheOffice 365APIcalllimit.Office 365setsalimit onhow many times a backup service cancall on its API withoutincurringextracharges.

Howeasyisittosearchbacked-updata?

Eachservicetakesaslightlydifferentapproachtosearch.Theresultisthattheprovidershavedifferentsearchinterfaceswhichcanaffectboththeeaseandspeedofthesearch.

Howeasyisittorestorebacked-updata?

Whendataislost,youneedtobeabletoperformarestoreswiftlyandeasily.Willthedataberestoredexactlyasitwasbeforethelossorwillformattingbelostintheprocess?Howmuchcontroldoyouhaveoverwhatisrestored?Forexample,canyouspecifybetweenindividualrecordsorentireuseraccounts?

Whattypeofdataoverviewisprovided?

Thereisanaddedbenefitstocloudbackup:ItprovidesITmanagerswiththeopportunitytoanalyzethebacked-updata.Checktoseewhattypeofdataoverviewtoolstheserviceprovidesandhoweasytheyaretouse.

Howisthebackupprotectedfromusererror?

Weknowthatthebiggestcauseoflostdatainthecloudisduetousererrorormaliciousactivity.Logically,thiswouldalsoapplytoyourbackupservice.Isitpossibleforausertodeletebacked-updatathroughtheonlineinterface?

Assessingtheprovider

Howfuture-proofisyourcloud-to-cloudbackup solution?

Whentheseserviceswerefirstoffered,theonlyconcern wasthereliabilityofthebasicbackupfunctionalityandthesecurityofthedata.Asthecategoryhasmaturedandthechallengesofreliabilityand

securityhavebeenaddressed,manyusersareseekingmorerefinedandfuture-prooffeaturesfromtheironlinebackup.Specifically,businessusers are concernedwiththeabilityofabackupservicetohandlemultipledatasources(e.g.Salesforce, Google Apps,Office365,on-premisesdata,etc.)andhowwellitallowsthemtomanagethisdataonce itisaggregatedinacentralbackup.Thereisacleartrendtodayforcompaniestoadoptcloud-basedsoftwaresolutions.Ascompaniesfindmoreandmoreoftheirimportantdatastoredwithvariouscloudservices,thecentralized managementofthatdata

islikelytobeofincreasingimportance.

Doestheproviderspecializeinservingtheneedsofbusinesses?

Theneedsof individual usersandsmallcompaniescanvaryconsiderablyfromthoseoftheenterprise.Istheservicedesignedforindividualsandsmallbusinesses?Doesitfocusexclusivelyontheneedsofmedium-to-largeorganizations?Isitageneralistthatservesalltypesofusers?Obviouslythebestchoiceisaservicethatspecializesinyourorganization’sspecific needs.Makesurethattheserviceyouselectfocusesonorganizationsofyoursize.

Canon-premisesdatabebackedupaswell?

It’sdifficulttomanagedatathatishousedondifferentservers.Forthatreason,someproviderswillalsobackupon-premisesdataaswell asyourorganization’sOffice 365records.Having specifictypesofdatainoneplacecanmakesearch,informationoverview,andreportingtasksaloteasier.Thiswillbeofincreasingrelevanceasorganizations relymoreoncloud-based services.

Doesthisproviderbackupothercloud-basedservices?

ArecentstudybyForbesMagazineconcludedthattheuptakeofcloudcomputingwillincreaseby36%overthenextthreeyears.IfyourcompanyisonOffice365today,thereisagoodchanceyouareeither usingadditionalcloud-based servicesorwilldo sointhe nearfuture.Usingonevendortobackupmultiplecloudservicesmakessense.Butonlyifthevendoryouchooseprovidesoneinterfacewithseamless,integratedsearch,oversight,andreportingacrossthedifferentcloudservices.Solookforacloud-to-cloudbackupproviderthat,attheveryleast,planstocovermultiplecloudservicesandcheckhowseamlesstheirsearch,overview,andreportingfunctionsarecross-platform.

Whatistheprovider’sdevelopmentplanfortheplatform?Cloud-to-cloudbackupisarelativelynewcategorysoyoucanexpectthevariousofferstobeevolvingatasteadyclipoverthenextfewyears. Thebeauty ofSaaS isthat upgradesareautomatic so theproductkeepsimproving.Atleastthat’strueintheory.Makesureyourprovider’splansfortheplatformareinlinewithyourprojectedneeds.Willitbeabletobackupmultiplecloudservices?Canitincorporateon-premisesdata?Willthebasicfunctionalityworkaswellacrossplatformsasitdoesforoneplatform?Howfuture-proofisthesolution?

5.Summary

PlatformslikeOffice 365arebecomingincreasinglyintegratedintotheday-to-dayoperationsofmanyorganizations.Thisisatrendthatwilllikelyincreaseoverthenextfive years.Thispaperhasspecified thewaysinwhichcloud-baseddataisvulnerabledespitethereliabilityoftheplatform.Mostoftherisktothedatacomesfromusererror,which,inmanycases,isdifficult toprevent.Thecosttoorganizationsthatexperiencedatalossvariesdependingongeographyandindustry,butinallcasesitissignificant.

Eliminatingusererrorandtheothercausesofdatalossisunlikely.However,itispossibleforITmanagerstominimizeitscostanddisruptiontotheorganization.

Aswithanytechnologicaladvancement,therearemeasuresthatneedtobeinplacetoensurethatthedatausedinthecloudremainssafe,secure,andreliable.SaaSisrapidlygrowinginpopularityasthebackupmethodofchoiceforOffice365andothercloud-basedplatforms.Whiletheleadingprovidersoftheseservicesofferverysimilarbasicfeaturesandpricing,significantdifferencesexistbetweenthem.Thesedifferencescanaffecthowwelltheservicewillperformforaparticularbusiness.Forthatreason,theyshouldbeexploredbeforecommittingtoanyoneservice.

Ultimately,thebestcloud-to-cloudbackupserviceforanorganizationwillbetheonethatbestsuitsitsneedstodayandcandevelopinline with its futurerequirements.Thisdocument has outlinedseveralofthevariablesthatcandistinguishoneproviderfromtheothers.Thesedifferencesaresummarizedinadiscussionandincludedinanassessmentworksheet.Usingthesetoolscansavetimeandwillincreasethelikelihoodofselectingtheservicebestsuitedforyourparticularorganization’sneeds.

EvaluationWorksheet

Company A:Company B: Company C:

Rankeachoptiononascaleof1-5withonebeingpoororleastfavorableand5beingexcellentormostfavorable.Additionalspacesareprovidedtoaddyourowncriteria.

Criteria / CompanyA / CompanyB / CompanyC
Easeofaddingaccounts
Easeofdeletingaccounts
Easeofschedulingbackups
Frequencyofscheduledbackups
Easeofperformingunscheduled,manualbackups
Flexibilityforcustomizingerrornotifications
Easeofsearchingbackedupdata
Rangeofsearchcriteria
Speedofsearchingbackedupdata
Easeofdatarestore
Speedofdatarestore
Protectionfromdeletionofbackupdataduetousererrorormalice
Dataoverviewcapabilities
Reportingcapabilities
Customersupportexperience
Canback-upmultiplecloud-basedplatformsinadditiontoSalesforce.
Canback-upon-premisedata.
Easeofcross-platformsearch,dataoverviewandreporting.
Specializedinaddressingorganizationsofyoursize.
Future-proofqualitiesofthesolutioninlinewithyourprojectedneeds.
TOTAL:

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