Is Backup as a Service Right for You?

Backup as a Service (BaaS) is a critical solution for many organizations. Still, some are unsure if it’s the right fit for them. This blog explores the ins and outs of BaaS, including its value, benefits and considerations, to help you determine if this solution aligns with your business needs.

At its core, BaaS is an end-to-end managed solution where a provider handles all aspects of your data backup process. This includes hardware, software, maintenance and the execution of backups and restores. Essentially, they take the heavy lifting of data protection off your team’s shoulders, allowing your business to focus on its core functions and high-level priorities.

With BaaS, organizations benefit from:

• Managed services tailored to business needs.
• Service-level agreement (SLA) guarantees for uptime and availability.
• The flexibility to store backups in a location of choice (e.g., on-premises, cloud platforms, client-managed data centers or provider-managed data centers).
• Simple billing where you “pay for what you use” to improve budgeting and cost efficiency all while providing the ability to safeguard data across complex infrastructures.

BaaS caters to organizations across virtually all industries, from healthcare and insurance to manufacturing and education. The few exceptions typically involve sectors with unique government compliance requirements. However, for most, BaaS can offer unparalleled ease and assurance when it comes to data protection and data management.

While it accommodates a wide range of organizations, here are a few key indicators your organization could benefit from BaaS:

• Managing over 10 terabytes of front-end data.
• Struggling with limited IT resources or expertise for backup and recovery tasks.
• Needing to simplify disparate operating systems and platforms.
• Seeking predictable costs and streamlined IT operations.

If you don’t have over 10 terabytes of front-end data, a managed services provider like CDW can help you identify the best solution for your needs. However, if backups are taxing your internal resources, or if building in-house infrastructure feels too costly and complex, BaaS can be an ideal solution.

Data backups are often overlooked because they don’t align with an organization’s core goals, such as improving patient or customer outcomes, driving innovation or increasing revenue. However, they are essential. Backups form the backbone of every cybersecurity program. Without robust backups, organizations risk irrecoverable data, severe downtime, and reputational damage that can be impossible to recover from.

Key reasons your organization should prioritize backups include, but are not limited to:

• Disaster recovery: Whether facing a ransomware attack or accidental file deletion, backups ensure your organization can bounce back quickly.
• Cybersecurity: Backups are essential to any cybersecurity program, offering a safety net in scenarios involving malware, phishing or malicious threats.
• Compliance: Many industries are held to data protection and retention standards that require secure backups to maintain compliance.

BaaS simplifies this necessity, ensuring reliable, tested backups are always in place.

While managing backups is necessary, it diverts your resources from focusing on strategic business goals. BaaS helps organizations alleviate this burden by:

• Eliminating the need to maintain backup hardware and software.
• Automating labor-intensive tasks like monitoring, performing restores and validating data integrity.
• Ensuring data is housed in multiple locations so restores are close to applications and in separate, geographically diverse facilities.

With BaaS, organizations avoid hidden costs and challenges associated with managing their own backup environments.

Consider an organization with complex systems including Windows, Linux, Unix and legacy platforms like Sun Solaris or IBM AIX. Managing data protection for such an environment in-house would be daunting. With BaaS, these systems are backed up using enterprise-grade platforms that are flexible enough to cover all operating systems. This provides a straightforward, consistent solution for even the most diverse computing environments.

The long-term advantages of BaaS extend far beyond ease of use. Here are a few standout benefits that move the needle for organizations:

1. Predictable Costs
With BaaS, organizations enjoy a predictable monthly charge based on the front-end terabytes of data backed up. Organizations are billed for what they need, shifting the risks and expenses of scaling infrastructure to the service provider.

2. Flexibility and Customization
Whether you need localized backups, cloud integration or a hybrid model, BaaS can accommodate your setup. A managed services provider, like CDW, can design solution options to ensure the outcome meets your unique requirements.

3. Ransomware Protection
Securing data against ransomware is a top concern for many organizations. BaaS solutions, like those offered by CDW, incorporate measures to protect against ransomware, with the option of air-gapping the environment, to help ensure recoverable backups in the event of an attack.

4. Business Continuity
By streamlining backups and restores, BaaS improves service levels when restores are required. This helps ensure business continuity even in worst-case scenarios, such as security incidents involving critical data.

5. Resource Optimization
BaaS frees your team to focus on high-value initiatives instead of time-consuming backup tasks. IT professionals can redirect their energy toward innovation and improving service delivery.

Adopting BaaS involves three key steps and considerations:

1. Onboarding Process
   Onboarding typically spans two to four months, depending on the complexity of the environment. The service provider handles hardware procurement and implementation, while customers must ensure prerequisites such as sufficient data center space, network ports and power.
   
   
2. Ongoing Support
   Assigned account managers and regular status meetings are key to providing a rich customer experience. Clients are assigned a pool of familiar engineers and analysts, ensuring continuity and expert understanding of their environment.
   
   
3. Reporting and Visibility
   Customers can expect real-time visibility via dashboards and customized reports. Access to backup success metrics, compliance insights and SLA performance are also provided to ensure backups are meeting business and regulatory requirements.

Backup tasks are fundamental to your business operations, cybersecurity and compliance — but they don't need to drain your team’s time and energy. You can stop diverting valuable IT resources to mundane tasks. With CDW Backup as a Service, you gain flexibility, scalability and peace of mind while driving both efficiency and innovation.