Automating Backup: Opportunities & Best Practices

You already know that backing up your organization’s data isn’t a nice-to-have, it’s a need-to-have. The external threats alone warrant this. You could be one of the 50% of all organizations operating a data center that can’t withstand, or is unable to operate after, a natural disaster. Or, you could be one of the 39% of global organizations that experienced a ransomware attack in recent months.

If those threats weren’t enough, you’re likely accountable to a host of government regulations that legally require you to back up your data and be able to report on the fact that you’re doing just that. The Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act’s Safeguard Rule requires that sensitive customer information be archived securely while Sarbanes Oxley’s Section 404 requires companies to not only document the procedures in place to safeguard data but also to make sure it’s available for reporting on an annual basis. If you’re doing business in Europe, the EU’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) makes it crucial to know what data is available, and be able to show where it is stored and how it is being retained. In short, you have a lot of laws telling you not just to store your data, but to prove you are storing it and storing it correctly.

But reporting on data backup storage is getting harder and harder. Organizations are expecting 52% data growth in the next twelve months. Yet a global IT data protection labor shortage means the manpower simply doesn’t exist to implement and manage this massive growth in data. And, even if the manpower existed, flat or shrinking IT budgets won’t support incremental hiring. 5

Suppose resources weren’t an issue, employee morale and retention would still be a priority. The repetitive acts associated with backing up data and reporting on it time and time again are bound to disengage team members you can’t afford to lose.

All of these reasons point to why automating your data protection reporting matters. Time-intensive, repetitive tasks that must be completed are far better left to software and automation than to manual processes that take precious time and resources away from higher priorities like security. When you automate your backup reporting, your organization gets the data protection assurances it needs and your team gets to work on higher-value, engaging projects.