Backup Anytime

Data deduplication is the new sex but some people don’t want to take part. This is particularly the case at small business level. In a busy small business office where I.T. is the domain of an executive or owner manager who has significant other non I.T. responsibilities, the whole concept of not having multiple copies of data scattered around the network is difficult to accept. 

Many small business owners take solace in having multiple copies of data left on different systems in an adhoc manner. This however is simply a case of being disorganised and having a fear of depending on systyems rather than ones self.

Data deduplication not only reduces the number of copies of data but more critically identifies absolutely necessary data volumes and together with a quality online backup system ensures this data is managed, backed up and archived to ensure availability and efficiency. If there is a compromise it is that all parties involved must replace their paranoia and associated paradoxical self confidence with a functioning system and outside of monitoring and management should leave that system alone.

The problem here is that many small business do not see data management as a function beyond data backup and data availability. This can only lead to serious I.T. expense and risk of data leaks.

This step is ironically more easily  taken by large companies. Four of the reasons for this are;

1. I.T. staff issue ownership:
2. finance availability:
3. Compliance requirements:
4. Understanding of TCO (Total cost of ownership) efficiencies.

Small businesses (outside of very innovative companies) look set to stay a step behind and will likely benefit from data deduplication initially on a piecemeal basis as third party applications come shipped with embedded data deduplication benefits.

This market is set to expand rapidly. Given that online backup initially had a slow small business following and has now become a standard component of responsible backup systems, it is believed by many that not only will this happen with data deduplication but that the now not uncommon merging of online backup and data deduplication will become a standard MSP offering.

Poorly organised, technology sceptics at small business management level may want this feature switched off and see the step to online backup as a step far enough during their tenure. The next generation will understand that data deduplication is not just of great benefit but in time will be a must as systems (particularly email) are filled with duplicate content, some of which zero copies are required. When writing a reply on Irish blogs recently I found that deduplication was seen as a miss spelling. I then checked it in word, open office and word press and low and behold all of these application saw deduplication as a miss spelling. Technology is moving faster than language, whats new. The issue is that deduplication is not new, it has been out for some time and is here to stay.

The “Securing data in motion” conference covers a wide range of data protection specific areas ranging from the key principles of protecting data to creating a data protection program. The next events are in September so excuse the short notice. There are however two events in September and one in December.

If you can’t wait ’till December to attend (in Boston) then the next techtarget security seminar touches down in Orlando, Florida Sept 9th and then in Sandiego, California on September 11th.

There is no charge to attend this seminar but you  must book in advance on techtarget.com as there is a “no walk ins” policy.

So whats in store for those attending? Well quite a bit actually. Lets take a closer look.

Here is the agenda.

8:00 am

Registration and Breakfast

8:45 am : Welcome and Introductions

9:00 am :General Session: Key Principles of Protecting your Data

10:00 am : Peer Networking / Refreshment Break

10:40 am : Security Session 1 Storage Session 1

11:40 am : Lunch

12:55 pm : Data Protection Strategy Panel 

1:40 pm  : Security Session 2 Storage Session 2

2:40 pm : Peer Networking / Refreshment Break

3:00 pm : General Session: Double Jeopardy - Creating a Data Protection Program

3:30 pm : Tech in Action/ Grand Prize Giveaway

Keynote speakers include:

Pete Lindstrom,Senior Analyst, Burton Group (Orlando conference)

Trent Henry, Vice President and Research Director, Burton Group (San Diego conference)

John Merryman, Services Director for Compliance and Information Management, GlassHouse Technolo-gies, Inc.

This seminar (any date) is a must attend for general I.T. decision makers at corporate level and data protection specialists at all levels. Full information is available from the techtarget.com website. The September seminars are almost upon us. Those considering December attendance should be aware there is only one event in December so early booking is recommended.

Booking on the techtarget site does require some online form filling of information which would be of benefit to marketing campaings but nothing which isn’t generally asked by sales qualifiers and commonly available in the public domain. After all, this is a data security seminar.

What is an Irish online backup service?
Strictly speaking, an Irish online backup service is one which is based in Ireland and which backs up in Ireland. If you want to be pedantic you would exclude from this list multinational companies with an Irish base or those with no Irish client base.

So now we know what it is why is it so important?
If you are based in Ireland it is very important for a number of reasons

Data availability.
If you have a data communications problem (which often accompanies a data loss scenario) having your data thousands of miles away will not be conducive to rapid restore.

Support (local)
The nearer a supplier is to you (all other things being equal) the greater the support they can and will provide. You may not need much online backup support day to day but this will change when you have an outage and are under serious time constraints.

Support (general)
Most Irish online backup providers are small businesses and offer a very personal level of support. Multinational companies offering online backup commonly offer email only or help desk (web ticket) only support. This type of support may be OK for web hosting or email management but if you have a data loss situation at hand you will want to talk to real people promptly and have the facility for desk-side support and hand holding at every stage of the recovery process. Even if an international provider allows you to skip the ticketing system, a distant and non personal call centre with 99 juniors to 1 unavailable technician is not conducive to rapid, successful restore.

Compliance.
Depending on the legal entity of your organisation and the type of data you use, you may be required to retain your data in Ireland. Seek professional advice before backing up with a non Irish online backup provider if you are not sure.

Shipping.
If you have a large amount of data, a seed install may require shipping of encrypted data. The shorter and less complicated the secured shipment is the better. This may be used more than once as seed restore is not uncommon and is very advantages in a comms outage environment.

Compliance (future)
Data compliance requirements generally is becoming more strict. If you do manage to find an International provider who can somehow (and this is difficult to imagine) provide the same service as someone based in Ireland, there is every possibility that while this may be OK from a compliance perspective now, it could cause compliance issues later. Add to this that moving online backup providers is not as straightforward as changing utilities providers (you will be starting your archive anew with a new supplier) and you can see it is important to get it right from the outset.

We have provided a list of Irish online backup providers for your perusal.