3 Reasons Why Consumer Backup Solutions Aren’t Right for Your Business

Organizations are increasingly realizing how important backup solutions are to securing their operations, this is a great first step. However, many are choosing consumer backup solutions with familiar names. Services like Dropbox are typically inexpensive and easy to use. They may be totally appropriate for keeping copies of things like your children’s graduation photos or old tax returns but there are a few reasons why they aren’t the best direction for your business.

Different files have different security needs

Consumer-facing backup services, often more of a synchronization service, typically store personal documents, old photos and videos. These items typically have different security required when compared with something like a business’s client data, or a server image.

With these consumer services it is hard to know specifically where your data is held, and under what specific conditions.

Many offsite consumer solutions are also housed on the same server, meaning that any business using this service will be storing their important backups with numerous other clients. In the awful event that any client on that server is attacked or the server goes down, it could mean big trouble for the business and its essential files.

Data protection security needs differ for businesses.

Unequipped to handle business file sizes

Many consumer-facing backup solutions aren't equipped to handle differences in file transfer demand.

Organizations have different types of files to back up compared with consumers. If a server image is being backed up, that will take significantly longer than a simple photo or video. Many consumer-facing backup solutions aren't prepared to handle this difference. According to Forbes, one professional found the difference a home backup solution made. After six months, only 500 GB had been backed up out of the 2.5 TB on the computer.  Even more importantly, how long are you willing to wait to retrieve your files from such a service in the event of a disaster? It’s definitely something to think about. Some services have even been known to “throttle down” the speed of users with large files.

Lack of customization for unique requirements

Organizations are under pressure to comply with a number of legal and industry regulations. The consumer-facing solutions do little to enable customization for unique requirements. Without the proper capabilities, many businesses could be in danger of exposing their sensitive files or simply not having the accessibility and control they want. A white paper by Hewlett Packard Enterprise noted that IT teams are often worried about the lack of control with storing sensitive data over consumer-grade off-site services. To alleviate this worry, businesses should provide their staff with a capable backup solution that's tailored specifically for organization use. This will help eliminate shadow IT occurrences and boost backup strategies.

There are a number of concerns that come with consumer-grade backup. One of the biggest reasons being your organization has a higher value of data at risk. Not only do these systems not offer the security capabilities most organizations require, but they also may not be as customizable to particular industry requirements. These issues could put businesses at risk if they adopt backup systems meant for public consumption. To find out more about a comprehensive backup solution that is targeted to your organization, and offers the flexibility that a business requires visit NovaStor today.