Ultimate Guide to Managed Cloud Backup

Managed Cloud backup enables data, systems, and applications on an organization's servers to be backed up and stored offsite, remotely in a data center or “the cloud”. This approach is part of the ideal 3-2-1 rule of backup: creating three copies of your data, storing (at least) two copies on different types of media, and ensuring one of these copies is stored offsite. By leveraging the power of cloud backup, organizations ensure that should something happen to a local copy of their data (local backups), it is still recoverable and that they can run remotely until systems are restored.

A managed cloud backup solution relies on a third-party managed service provider (MSP) to create and store backups of your data, typically using cloud managed backup technology to secure your files. Below are some of the main benefits of using an MSP to handle your Dynamics 365 and Power Platform data backup needs.

Managed cloud backup, as envisioned by the experts, is the digital protection of your most treasured assets. It's a comprehensive service provided by third-party professionals, who are not just service providers but guardians of your digital world. Their mission? To ensure your data is not only backed up securely but also readily available when you need it most. For sure this is a very important aspect of our digital life.

Now, let's dive into the world of managed backup services. First and foremost, managed backup services make your life easy and secure. They understand that not everyone possesses the time, technical know-how, or inclination to navigate the labyrinth of backup management. That's where they come in, assuming the role of your trusted custodian, ensuring your data's safety with unwavering dedication and keeping your business continuity.

Imagine a world where your data is automatically backed up, meticulously monitored, and securely stored in the cloud. Managed backup solutions offer exactly that—a seamless, worry-free experience. Where you don't have to deal with setting up backup schedules, configuring intricate settings, or worrying about the technical details for not understanding them in details. Wondering whether you are making the right steps. Your trusted service provider handles it all, allowing you to focus on what truly matters to you. And surely the best decision here is to rely and trust the process provided by Acronis, ensuring your complete control and protection over disaster scenarios.

Moreover, managed backup services are not just about safeguarding your data; they're about rapid recovery as well. In the unfortunate event of data loss, these managed backup services ensure that you can swiftly rise from the ashes with minimal disruption, does this sounds lifesaving? It's mandatory having a safety net for your digital life—when you stumble, you will have the opportunity to back on your feet before you know it.

We all live in a world where our digital activities are tightly connected with using the internet, managed backup services stand as the secure foundation for you. They understand that your data represents more than just information—it embodies your hard work, cherished memories, and invaluable moments. With managed backup services, you're not just a client; you're a cherished partner in the journey of data protection. As we know through the last years the percentage of cyberattacks and criminal attempts has increased massively. So having the best managed service provider ensure you the confidence of surviving whatever life has to serve you and makes it easy as a game.

Managed cloud backup services, crafted by the finest minds in the industry, is the lifesaving coast of your digital realm ensuring your data backup. It's the fortress that shields your data and the guiding light that leads you through the complexities of backup management. So, when it comes to securing your digital information by implementing disaster recovery and place your trust in managed backup services, and making it remarkably easy and ensure your peace of mind.

Safeguarding data

Safeguarding data is the cornerstone of the digital age we currently live in, and cloud backup services play a crucial role in this mission. These services perform backups of your vital information with unwavering diligence and speed, creating a fortified backup infrastructure. We can definitely say it is our digital fortress. We don't want anyone to access it without our permission.

Because data backups are not a mere task but a commitment to preserving your digital heritage, Through meticulous planning and execution, they ensure multiple backups are created, guaranteeing that your data is not just preserved but protected with redundancy that can withstand even the most destructive scenarios.

Imagine falling into a situation where a cyberattack is pointed at your business and you don't have backup data protection. All of your precious information may be lost forever. It sounds scary and unfair, right? The best thing to do is to have a backup process software to keep you away from such threads. So choose wisely and do your best to keep peace of mind.

Ensuring Business continuity

Ensuring business continuity is an essential part of our business environment, and managed service providers know the importance of this critical aspect. The third-party companies safeguard your data by securely storing it offsite in state-of-the-art data centers.

These centers not only protect data but also offer diverse recovery options, acting as the lifesaving option of resilience for your enterprise. With the guidance and dedicated team of managed service providers, your business can rest assured that even in the face of adversity, your operations will not only survive but thrive, thanks to their strategic approach to data protection and recovery designed specifically to respond at the best possible way.

Regulatory Compliance and Data Protection Laws

Managing regulatory compliance and navigating the intricate web of data protection laws is a responsibility that fully managed backup vendors undertake with precision. They not only manage your data but also ensure that it aligns seamlessly with the legal requirements.

Safeguarding clients' data while meeting these stringent regulations is at the core of their mission. These fully managed backup services vendors are your trusted partners in preserving the sanctity of your digital assets while upholding the integrity of data protection laws.

Cloud backup works by replicating company data on cloud-based servers, and by doing so you are guaranteed that whatever happens, your data remains secure all the time. This can be done in two different ways. Let's explore how does these methods function.

• By Continuous replication: With continuous replication, the cloud provider copies your company's data to its servers as it changes and updates 24/7 by the backup vendor. This is the most common type of cloud backup and is used by companies that need to always keep an up-to-date copy of their data, because of the importance of the information they store.
• By Scheduled replication: With scheduled replication, the cloud provider copies your company's data on a set schedule, you can manage the schedule by your mind and preferences. This is often used by companies that don't need to keep an up-to-date copy of their data at all times. So they have the freedom to update in a current period of time. This is why it is called scheduled replication it also depends on storage capacity that you are provided by the vendor.

Once your company's data has been replicated to the cloud, it can be accessed from anywhere in the world using an internet connection. This is a crucial aspect of having peace of mind that your customer's data remains secure in any circumstances that may occur. You will always have high file level recovery. It sounds great, right?

 A public cloud is a third-party managed platform that uses the standard cloud based computing model to make resources and services available to remote users around the world. Public cloud resources typically include conventional IT infrastructure elements such as virtual machines, applications or storage.

Services can encompass a range of tasks, such as managing databases, firewalls, load balancers and various platform as a service (PaaS) or software as a service (SaaS) components. Users have the ability to bring together resources and services to construct an infrastructure that can effectively handle enterprise workloads. Public cloud services are available in different forms, including free options and subscription based or on demand pricing models like pay per usage or pay as you go (PAYG).

The pros here that you are provided with automation, analytics, and edge cloud locations and low cost or free storage costs.

On the other hand the cons here are that it is considered as not enough secure in case of unauthorized attacks and attempts to enter your database. Another thing to have in mind is that this type of cloud backup can be used on premises with limited storage capacity. So you should wisely choose if this storage will be enough for your data.

This type of cloud storage is used by companies and other small businesses, that need to store their data in a secure environment where they can only be accessed by authorized users. Private cloud storage is offered by professional cloud providers. Guaranteeing secure, efficient and stable data storage accessible from everywhere.

When talking about private cloud backup services we must have in mind that we will receive a professional care about our most important asset - our data. Working with professional service providers guarantees the constant update of the cyber protection of your data. You will be able to customize your preferences like using a continuous replication, or scheduled replication.

You will have the availability to store your data in a secure environment, blocking every attempt of unauthorized access. We can assume that private cloud backup services offer greater security, customization, more secure backup and control than public clouds. Because of this fact these companies invest in cutting edge infrastructure and technology to suggest the best possible solutions for their customers.

A thing we can consider as a disadvantage is they can be more expensive to set up and maintain than public cloud services, making them less ideal for small businesses or those with limited budgets.

 As the name refers, this type of cloud backup combines public and private clouds as a backup service. Thus, it allows companies to store sensitive information and perform backups in a private cloud, while using a public cloud in terms to store a less sensitive data.

Let's look at the pros here. Hybrid cloud can looked as an investment , but it will provide plenty of cost-saving benefits. For example, businesses using public cloud without a hybrid might have a difficult and expensive time migrating information if they decide to make changes to their internal systems. Also, because a hybrid cloud is scalable, it makes handling changes in business goals cheaper down the line.

You also have a balance of control with the management of the backup service. Only hybrid cloud technology can provide you plenty of benefits that come from public and private servers. Users can enjoy the scalability of a public cloud environment without giving all control to a third-party service provider.

This type of cloud backup service provides a high speed of deployment, because the hybrid or cloud native backup is designed around an organization’s personal and unique needs, it can be optimized with the speed of the sound. This is a very important aspect when considering to use third-parties backup solution.

On the other hand let's look at the cons, or disadvantages and if there are any of them. Of course there are a few, one of them is the complexity of managing and understanding the process. This is the main concern of the majority of the consumers.

The other disadvantage we must mention is that there are security concerns abut using this hybrid cloud method for backup and recovery. Because, unfortunately, not all third-party vendors might be capable of keeping information private.

Visibility is considered as another disadvantage of this cloud method. Any cloud environment can be complicate, but the complication only increases when a business's environment is divided into a multi-cloud solution. This means that the ability to maintain visibility of the important things, such as data and applications, systems, and anything else that your business has to manage becomes more difficult than if you decided to use a public or private cloud. We can conclude that this a good cloud service to store your data, but surely it is not the best one.

While cloud backup is necessary for all workloads, let's look at one in particular – software as a service – to demonstrate the benefits organizations can realize by leveraging managed cloud backup.

Today cloud technologies are handy for a number of reasons – just think how much more efficient it is for organizations to work with business-optimizing solutions like , Google Workspace, and Salesforce.com. By outsourcing their daily IT management services to a cloud infrastructure, organizations can focus on their core business operations.

This means businesses are getting more familiar with and comfortable ‘renting' IT solutions through the cloud. The challenge is that they can get too comfortable, which presents an opportunity for service providers that deliver managed cloud backup. Here's how:

Always-on solutions (like Microsoft 365, Google Workspace, and Salesforce.com) can create a false sense of security. Organizations need to understand that SaaS companies are focused on maintaining their own infrastructure and applications uptime, ensuring services are always available to their subscribers. However, they are not concerned with protecting the customer data that lives within those applications.

That's where managed cloud service providers come in, providing clarity on how certain IT services work. They concentrate on potential gaps, and how their services – like managing an organization's entire cloud backup and recovery strategy – can help bridge those, by providing an essential safety net that ensures business continuity, efficiency, and security.

Whether you have the capacity to onboard new customers, want to focus on boosting revenue among existing ones, or both, when it comes to evaluating which modern managed backup service is best for your business, there are two main criteria you should be investigating:

1. BaaS solutions that are built for MSPs, optimizing your delivery of managed cloud services and ensuring you also gain margin-boosting efficiency
2. BaaS solutions that ensure your managed backup service stands out from the competition

1. Physical Servers: Physical servers are likely to experience malfunctions, natural disasters, and human errors. In contrast, server cloud backup protects your physical servers, allows for automatic, off-site backups protected from physical hazards and vulnerabilities, and can be easily accessed and restored in the event of data loss or any other natural disaster.
2. Virtual Machines: Virtual machine backup is a data protection solution for VMs that performs similar functions and processes to traditional backup solutions and is used on physical servers. Virtual machine backup applications can perform a full backup of all files, an incremental backup, or a differential backup. This type of backup software needs to run frequently and periodically to protect virtual machine files, configurations, and continuously changing data.
3. Cloud and SaaS Environments: A SaaS application refers to any software that is not installed on your premises. Typically, these SaaS-based products are accessed through a web browser or similar means. It's important to note that SaaS is not a plugin and does not reside on your devices. SaaS-based products have been widely available since the technology boom of the 1990s. During this time, there was a growing need for cost-computing solutions, which led to the hosting and distribution of software to meet the scaling demands of businesses, often on a global level. One significant advantage of SaaS is its potential to enhance return on investment (ROI). This is primarily due to the costs associated with deploying and maintaining SaaS applications. The cost effectiveness of SaaS has remained one of its benefits over software models, reducing total ownership costs (TCO) while increasing profit margins for both B2B and B2C businesses in today's information age.
4. Cloud Environments: A cloud-based product or service refers to anything that operates in the cloud. This encompasses applications based on SaaS, such as PaaS and IaaS. If a service requires an internet connection to function properly, it is likely to be cloud-based. The cloud was developed as a means to share data efficiently and quickly. Technological advancements have enabled servers and storage to be hosted in the cloud, which forms the infrastructure component of cloud computing. Infrastructure as a service allows for utilization without relying on on-premises servers. They enable you to manage your infrastructure in the cloud. However, it's worth noting that within these cloud platforms, many services can also be classified as PaaS.
5. Mobile Devices: Mobile devices are likely to experience malfunctions, and that happens very often in the most inappropriate moments. Most of us have experienced this uncomfortable situation where our devices just don't respond, crash, or stop working at all. In these cases, the potential for losing information stored on the device is high. It is not a pleasant experience, for sure, but this happens all the time. If we have managed backup solutions, then you won't have to worry at all about the information stored on the defective device. Because when you buy a new one, this information will be restored to the device exactly as it was in the previous one. With the development of mobile devices in the last decade and so, we can clearly see the obvious need to secure these devices, too.

We all know the importance of encryption, but do we understand what exactly it means? The cloud, your network, your storage, and the Internet are all places where encryption is used. Your data is encrypted to prevent unauthorized access from those who could otherwise harm you. It protects you against people who violate security to gain access to data inside your organization, unauthorized outside access, and compliance protection. Your organization's live data is its lifeblood, and backups safeguard it by enabling you to restore lost, damaged, stolen, or improperly changed data with previous copies that ensure the normal continuity of the operational processes.

Instead of questioning the reasons for encrypting your backups, it might be more beneficial to consider why you shouldn't encrypt them. Take a moment to ask yourself, "Is there any reason not to encrypt my backups?" It becomes challenging to find a justification. By leaving it at that, you are making the choice to encrypt, which is the obvious decision.

How do you encrypt data backups? There are two primary encryption technologies that ensure the security of your data backups: source-side data encryption and server-side encryption. Source-side data encryption involves using customer-controlled keys to encrypt your data before it is transmitted from your server or network.

OK, so that sounds interesting and secure, but what happens in case we lose our encryption keys? In that case, you're out of luck. Without it, you're not going to be able to decrypt your backups. This leads us to the one thing you must take care of seriously: keeping track of how you use your encryption keys. Make sure to store these keys in a place like a password manager or an encrypted file with limited but easy access.

What are encryption keys? How do they appear? Encryption keys resemble passwords, consisting of combinations of letters, numbers, and symbols. They can be as simple (though insecure) as using the letter "a" or as complex and difficult to memorize as "Da^\^K1'8Uay7pFIq;1S". Alternatively, they can even be phrases like "when. 1. was young, I liked to go on roller coasters". There is no shortage of articles discussing password length and complexity. The key thing to remember is that the longer the key, the more challenging it becomes to crack encrypted backups through brute cybercriminal attacks.

Once your backups are encrypted, only individuals with authorized access to both the files and the corresponding encryption keys can decrypt and access your data.

Server-side encryption takes care of the encryption process for your data. When your data arrives, it is automatically encrypted, securely stored in the cloud, and then decrypted when it leaves. All managed by the encryption keys associated with your private cloud service account. While there are options for cloud storage providers to manage these keys by yourself, we will focus on discussing the simplest implementation.

The data stored in the cloud is encrypted; think of it as a layer of encryption that doesn't require you to remember any passwords. It's like having encryption in place with just a simple click (or even no action required in the case of Google). To better understand its value, consider this scenario: Let's say you upload a business document to cloud storage without applying any source-side encryption. Perhaps you need to access the file from sources without modifications. Maybe you simply forgot to enable source-side data encryption. In either case, server-side encryption automatically encrypts the file and securely stores it on the cloud without any effort from your side. Without these encryption keys, nobody can access your information, no matter how hard they try. It sounds pretty awesome, right? That confirms the importance of the encryption process.

Data deduplication is a technique that helps get rid of duplicates of data, resulting in a reduction in the amount of storage space needed.

Deduplication can be performed in time as data is being saved to the storage system or in the background to identify and remove copies after the data has been written to disk. How does data deduplication work? Let's explain it so it becomes clear. Deduplication works by identifying and eliminating data blocks at the 4KB per byte level, within a FlexVol® volume, and across all volumes in the aggregate.

The key technology behind deduplication is fingerprints, which are digital signatures assigned to each 4KB data block. When new data is written to the system, the inline deduplication engine scans the blocks, generates a fingerprint, and saves it in a hash store (a memory-based data structure). Once the fingerprint is computed, it checks for a match in the hash store. If there is a match, it searches for the block (donor block) in cache memory.

If found, it performs a byte-by-byte comparison between the data block (recipient block) and the donor block to ensure a match. If verified, it shares the recipient block with the matching donor block without writing it on the storage space; only metadata is updated to track this sharing.

The background deduplication engine operates using a unique approach. It scans all the data blocks within the collection, then removes duplicates by comparing their identifiers and conducting a thorough byte-by-byte analysis to eliminate any potential false matches. This procedure guarantees that there is no loss of data during the deduplication process.

An efficient managed backup solution provides organizations with the opportunity to enhance their operations while delegating the responsibility of management. In this approach, a qualified managed services provider (MSP) who possesses knowledge of the managed backup, technologies, techniques, and tools carries out the managed backups in order to enhance data protection. This ensures a level of stability and predictability while allowing you to optimize costs and relieve yourself of management burdens.

Reputable service providers also adhere to practices for data backup, such as implementing the 3-2-1 backup rule in case of disaster recovery or a cyberattack. According to this rule, you should maintain three copies of your data on two types of media, with one copy stored at an offline location. Typically, this offsite location is in the cloud. But what do we have to look for when selecting a managed cloud backup service provider? Let's mention the most important aspects of which you have to be aware.

Security Parameters: With the evolution of the Internet, there has been a massive increase in cybercriminals and hackers who attempt to breach cloud systems to gain easy access to information like personal data. These malicious actors seek to either sell or exploit this data. Therefore, it is crucial to ensure that the cloud service provider you choose has the measures in place to defend against any types of attacks. This means they have the infrastructure and the technologies to deal with those attacks at any time.

Additionally, it is essential to investigate whether the chosen provider adheres to the standards and regulations set forth by your organization. For instance, some organizations may have requirements that their data be stored in data centers located in the United Kingdom or European Union. It is vital to verify this information before initiating your search for a provider.

Cost-Effectiveness: Another very important aspect is the cost of the services received. Smaller vendors often provide software and storage at a price based on the amount of data you need. However, larger vendors can make things more complex by charging for not only storage but also additional fees, such as data transfer, deletion, retrieval, and query charges. This makes it challenging to determine your expenses without careful consideration. It's important to ask questions and seek an easily understandable explanation regarding costs.

Vendor Evaluation: The right vendor evaluation should be based on several key factors, such as their certifications and standards, technologies and roadmap of development, server dependencies, technical support, customer feedback and partnership, migration support, and reliability of performance. If you do your research, there is no way to choose the wrong vendor; instead, you will choose the most effective and secure vendor for your business continuity.

Reputation and Reliability: Selecting a backup provider is the most crucial decision during this entire process. Seek out providers who have a reputation for robust security protocols and ensure compliance with regulations. Give priority to providers that offer data encryption for both data in transit and at rest, ensuring the confidentiality and integrity of your information. Evaluate their service level agreements (SLAs) for guarantees on uptime, data redundancy, and disaster recovery capabilities.

Customer Support and Service Level Agreements: Investigate the effectiveness of their customer service. Which communication channels do they provide their customers with in case you need support with their system or a recovery? Most providers have email, phone, chat, or social media support, so in case of emergencies or any type of technical difficulty, you as customers can easily contact them.

Managed cloud backup solutions deploy advanced data encryption techniques. Your data is transformed into an indecipherable code, ensuring that it remains confidential. Be it in transit or at rest, this cryptographic shield guarantees that only authorized users can access your data, protecting it from prying eyes.

Your data finds a safe haven in remote offsite locations. These locations are equipped with stringent security measures, safeguarding your digital assets from physical threats like theft or natural disasters. It's like having a fortified vault for your digital treasures. By leveraging multiple data centers, organizations can enhance data redundancy, reduce the risk of data loss and ensure business continuity. In case of a disaster or outage, having data replicated across geographically diverse locations ensures minimal disruption and enables quick recovery in case of need to bounce back from a disaster scenario.

Customize retention policies and replication schedules per your requirements and get on-demand backups, archiving, and file retrieval – giving you complete control. Every business has it own needs of data security depending on what information is using and storing in the used systems. Thanks to the flexibility and custom settings provided it gives the opportunity to select the most appropriate features for your business. You can pick the most useful data protection and backup services about ensuring your organization business continuity and healthy environment.

Employing these security approaches and strategies guarantees the normal functioning of your business. Because we all know that every organization has it's own needs of protection and is different from the other. When choosing the security measure you need, you have to be cautious about the threats you will be facing on a daily basis and choose the right measures to prevent any data breaches or vulnerabilities related with it. Nowadays, the cyber criminals became very smart and tricky in searching and finding the weak spots of their victims. In conclusion it can be said that the more prepared you are, the less headaches you will have.

We live in a tough time, ever since the COVID-19 crisis the amount of cyberattacks has got as high as the sky. For the past four years the percentage of these attacks has quadrupled according to the latest researches. We all know how the COVID-19 affected the life of everyone of us. Where we had to stay at home because of the restrictions, and a lot of companies decided to move their employees from the office to work at home. This of course was seen as a golden opportunity for these cybercriminals to gain more and more benefits, because of that fact.

Whether prompting to attack different companies with phishing, malware, ransomware or any other type of mean attacks they use. The emergency to strengthen the cyber protection of every business organization showed in front. It is well-known fact that every business owner wants the best security services for his organization. By choosing the right cloud service provider, you ensure the business continuity and healthy environment for your organization.

This means that no matter what happens, your business will continue to operate as normal, and in case of disaster scenarios it will be able to recover literally in seconds. Here comes the best decision you can make for your business and your clients, by choosing the Acronis Cyber Protect Cloud, proved this is the best managed backup and recovery solution for MSPs. With Acronis Cyber Protect Cloud, you receive integrated backup, disaster recovery, cybersecurity, and endpoint management at scale, while preserving your margins and streamlining your business operations with powerful automation capabilities. This is the most complete cyber protection service available on the market.

Acronis provides data protection to enable partners to protect their clients’ data no matter where it might reside across physical, virtual, and cloud-based environments. Backup and recovery capabilities provide the ability to bring data back in different forms – full image ,or file-based. Recovery downtime is minimized with the ability to quickly spin-up workloads in case of a DR event, and offers runbooks and test failovers to help ensure everything works constantly without any disruptions.

Another priceless benefit is the AI powered cybersecurity solutions including next-generation antimalware, email security, endpoint detection & response to enable partners with the most complete protection against ransomware and other threats that exist. You also receive proactive endpoint management and protection for better security. You will also be provided with streamline business operations with the Acronis automation capabilities provided.

On the other hand you will have the availability to maintain productivity and minimize downtime, which we all know is priceless, thanks to the world-class recovery options you will have in your hands. While talking about these important aspects, we must mention the importance of continuous data protection, because downtime and data loss can be really devastating for every business, no matter the size of the company. Acronis Cyber Protection Cloud solutions enable you to deliver continuous data protection services, supporting integrity of data and operations 24/7. This privilege really can save your day and your customers too!

When we add and the safeguarding abilities of the Acronis Cyber Protection Cloud, where businesses face a flood of sophisticated new cyberthreats that threaten their healthy existence. Offer best-in-breed security services for you and your clients’ entire workloads — data, applications, and systems — built on the advanced, next-generation anti-malware protection solutions. We clearly can assume that the best existing solution to your cyber problems is named Acronis Cyber Protection Cloud, where you will be able to modernize your clients' security and backup with integrated cyber protection. Don't hesitate taking the next step to receive the best possible cyber protection for you and your clients, now.