Backup Anytime

UK online backup providers target Irish market.
Savvy UK online backup providers are set to take advantage of the near parity between Sterling and the Euro. We have first hand experience of this with a client and a potential client.

A client of ours received a legitimate marketing email as a consequence of a list he had signed up to. The email was from a partner of the media company our client had signed with for industry partner updates. The email in question was from a well established UK online backup provider and offered our client online backup at compeditive UK rates which as a consequence of the current status of sterling equated to exceptionally compeditive Euro pricing. The email actually referred directly to the savings which can be made by Euro zone clients which would indicate at the very least that the UK online backup provider expected some Euro zone cleints to receive the email or possibly that it was targeted at the Euro zone market. Our client contacted us to compare what is on offer.

We explained the benefits of backing up within Ireland and that value as a consequence of currency values is not permanent and could change either way in the future. We pointed out the specific merits of our system while explaining that we did not know which system the UK compeditor used. Our client thankfully decided that while there were savings (and in fairness they were not moderate) that he had a quality, functional system which was already setup and decided to stay with us.

A representative of another Irish company with whom we are currently running a trial has indicated that he may take a trial with a UK competitor. This is the first time we have knowingly been pitched against a UK online backup supplier when competing for indigenous Irish business.

Does this spell disaster for Irish online backup providers?
The existence of competing providers who as a consequence of currency have competitive price advantages is a difficult one. Online backup however is an unusual service. First off, clients in the main see compliance and availability advantages by having their data in their own country. Secondly, online backup as a mission critical service which needs to be managed and supported correctly is not as price sensitive as off the shelf products. I read on a twitter  tweet (not sure if that is the correct way to put it) recently about people gaining in excess of 35% savings on electronic goods. I think therefore that while the current pricing advantages of UK online backup providers warrants recognition, so too do the  benefits of backing up at home. I think the savings will only be tempting on the largest online backup archive situation and ironically in those situation the benefits of backing up at home (physical availability access levels to large data quantities are important due to transfer limitations) are most obvious.

In summary
Sterling area online backup is very cheap for Euro buyers at present. This however is susceptible to change. Keeping data outside the state could give rise to compliance issues. Physical access to data is hindered if outside the state and leaves the client reliant on broadband. It is also important to note that cheap online backup has been available for some time in the U.S., India and China but the uptake of these services by Irish clients has been very modest. It would appear that the scramble to reduce I.T. costs is in the main conscientious from the point of view of avoiding compliance and availability issues.
Online backup at commercial level is for the moment a difficult service to export and has keen following at domestic level in mature markets.

Business person without data protection today! Donkey!

Want to continue in business? Get business continuity.

All the talk these days is based around the global credit crisis, recession, future outlook and financial opinion. It would appear that one persons opinion is as likely to be wrong or right than that of any other. The abiding consensus among business people who by their nature tend to be optimists is that the good times will come back. Sounds hopeful? Yes, but it is also something that is likely to be proved right in time as was the previous vision of meltdown provided by economists.

These people in the main therefore want to continue in business. They better get business continuity in place. The better ones will. Business continuity is essential for many reasons including and not exclusive to data compliance, client protection, data availability and indeed business survival.

So, what must one do. In a nutshell (and that is all this post is) you need to ensure that the data you retain passes the following criteria.

Permissible : You must ensure you have the right to retain data regardless of format.

Backed up : In addition to ensuring that data does not get in to the wrong hands you must also ensure that it remains available to you.

Protected : You must take adequate measures to ensure that any access to this data is appropriate and by appropriate persons. Do not confuse this with backup. Just because you retain a copy of data does not mean it is safe from unauthorised persons.

Revised : Data store compliance needs to be managed. Any data which you held with permission and rights last month may not be yours to use today.

Destroyed. You must remove data before it passes it’s appropriate usage date. Simple deletion is not actual deletion. A simple delete function merely tells the system, to mark the data as not required should hard drive space become needed. Modern drive sizes dictate that in many cases this rarely or never happens. You could be shocked and more seriously affected by the amount of supposedly deleted data which could be retrieved with minimal effort from your systems.

Managed : All of these factors need to be managed in conjunction with each other. This may require software, hardware and outside assistance. Most regions and many industries also require the appointment of a data protection officer. In small business environments this is generally someone with other existing tasks.

Sounds expensive? It need not be.

Sounds like a requirement? Yes (with variances on requirement level depending on location and industry)

Sounds urgent? Now is a good time. Anytime after a data outage is too late.

Sound important? How would your clients feel if they felt the data you have relating to them was not protected? Not to mention the consequences of it becoming public as a consequence of your non compliance.

Sounds scary? No soundbites or frighteners here. This is reality.

Want to take action?

Contact backupantime today and speak in absolute confidence with Ireland’s favourite online backup providers.