Any business relies on data, this is obvious. Especially nowadays, almost every company has its own database with valuable documentation, emails etc., that needs to be stored, operated and secured. Microsoft Office 365 may be a perfect solution for your business operation needs, although you still need to care about security and backup of this Office 365 data.
Once you start to look for backup solutions, you may wonder what is best – cloud or on-premise Office 365 backup. Both ways have pros and cons, so it would be good to understand what is best for your company.
What is on-premise backup?
On-premise or on-site backup solution means that your data is stored locally on certain devices or hardware (disks, tape drives, servers etc.). As far as you have to store the data by yourself, you are the one responsible for its maintenance, monitoring and operation.
Advantages
- Offline access and accessibility. Once all your data is stored in one place, you always have access to it, even if your internet connection is lost. This is great for the companies that rely on the internet — in case of any connection corruption, your data won’t be lost but carefully stored.
- Security. Again, if your data is stored in once place, it is harder to track it. Cloud solutions are extremely secure nowadays and provide advanced data encryption, but on-premise solutions do not require any internet protocols in order to backup any documents from your PC. This won’t make your data absolutely secure, but it reduces a surface for potential cyberattack.
Disadvantages
- Configuration and regular maintenance. On-premise backup is something that you need to set up and configure yourself. Probably, you would need a qualified IT team to manage and maintain local data storage. This process consumes money and time.
If your company operates big data, you need to create an appropriate infrastructure with servers, initial network and other hardware. Not every organization can afford such expenses.
- Physical damage and human error. Human factor is the common reason for different disasters and data loss is one of them. Once all necessary info is stored in one physical place, it is still open to employee mistakes and physical damage, such as natural disasters, floods etc.
What is a cloud backup solution?
Cloud backup is when you give your data to the third party’s already configured storage. Usually, there’s no need to configure such storage, all you have to do is purchase a subscription license and start the backup process. It is a perfect solution for small companies especially for those who require data access from different geolocations and devices.
Advantages
- Preset configurations and great scalability. Once cloud software is usually prepared for your exploitation, you don’t have to worry about software and hardware nuances. Also, cloud storage offers great scalability as your amount of space is limited only by subscription type.
- Low cost and smart budgeting. As far as you don’t need to invest in hardware and maintenance, all you need to worry about is monthly payment. Usually, you pay only for the cloud space and bandwidth. Some companies may want to choose specific storage options like litigation hold documentation backup.
- Accessibility. As long as your data is stored in the cloud, you can access it from any place and any device, depending only on your internet connection. It makes things easy when you urgently need to access deleted emails or restore some old customer’s documentation while you are not at the desk.
Disadvantages
- Internet connection required. Accessibility is great when your internet connection is fast and stable. Once the internet connection is down, it may become problematic to get access to cloud storage. You may want to think and define the information vital for business processes to secure it from disconnection.
- Lack of customization and data security. Using third party backup solutions means that you are going to use already pre-configured software that, most likely, won’t be customized for your needs. Also, be ready that you are going to transfer your data to someone else. There’s always a risk of unauthorized access, so you may want to ask the cloud backup provider about their work practices, encryption methods and security policies they follow.
So, like any other solution. The cloud backup storage is not perfect. It is not foolproof and still has some security risks. Every major cloud vendor had outages for the last year, although such cases are rare. Nevertheless, many security specialists believe that on premise backup gives the same or even bigger risks. Also, many cloud backup providers offer inbuilt security features. For example, Spin Technology gives not just a backup storage, but also gives automation functionality, version control and regular reports. A special admin panel allows you to manage employees backed up data from one place.
In general, unforeseen situations such as the COVID-19 pandemic show that remote access to information is a priority for a very large number of organizations. You may want to investigate your data usage during the business process right now and pick a backup method that will work perfectly in your certain case.
