Why It's Time To Get Smart About Recovery

Getting information on the customer’s journey is not the only thing that analytics can do for businesses. In the backup and disaster recovery industry, data analytics can automate some of the business continuity planning process. This way, IT experts can reduce the time spent on maintenance and can focus on their customers or on meeting new prospects.

Big Data, Big Problems

Statistics on the state of data storage are alarming. They show that in the business world, around 80% of data is redundant. Humanity will generate around 1.7 terabytes for every human being on the planet by 2020, according to research firm IDC. The mobile device has all but replaced digital cameras, and there is an never-ending hunt for better quality images or videos, taken with a multifunctional camera in your back pocket, the smartphone. But with better quality comes increasing file size.

So what happens when BYOD devices are constantly synced to company systems and a large quantity of data is amassed? In short, chaos institutes. Data from mobile devices, social media, company devices and other sources is all stored on company systems. Data which you don’t really need and use is stored – in some cases, data which is not accessed for years will be backed up, and people will be paid to store and manage it. Most business owners often have no idea what’s on their network.

So what is the solution? Backup providers simply try to sell more storage. In the short term, it might work. But in the long-term, it’s not a sustainable approach.

The Need For Better Backup Process

IT pros are no strangers to the problem of data hoarding. Most of the times, they will need to carefully balance backup and recovery needs with rising storage costs and flatlining budgets. A shocking study from GFI shows that 53% of businesses don’t backup their data, as they should.

Part of the problem is the backup process is not always perfect. IT pros cite the backup process takes too long, is not affordable and not secure. A lot of system administrators will even outright say that they have too much data and it hinders the ability to backup daily.

Analytics Show Where The Pain Points Are

Backup and recovery doesn’t really have to be that hard. Instead of adding more storage to deal with the problem, you can intelligently use the storage you already have. Analytics technology now make it possible to analyze backups and check if a certain file is to be backed up or binned. This way, you can see the bigger picture as to what is in your system backup, and make data-driven decisions.

For IT professionals, data analytics is a godsend. It has the potential to reduce the time spent auditing data, looking for the critical pieces of the puzzle in the business’s continuity plan. Companies need to be up and running back fast, if an outage happens. And this means mission-critical information (emails, documents, information about customers or payment systems) must be restored quickly, in minutes if possible. The need for a better backup process is stringent.

Get Alerts About Your Files

A backup system with analytics capability will not only give you an idea of what’s in the backup, but also alert as to the status of mission-critical files. Admins can receive emails if important files are not being backed up, and the system will be able to point to the problem that needs resolving.

Backup analytics takes the same efficiency and intelligence that it has brought to businesses when improving the customer’s buying experience and applies it to the backup and recovery process.

But more importantly, it may just make the backup process so easy to deal with, that business owners and IT managers will finally allow it to take its rightful place at the top of business planning priorities list.