Wednesday 4 March 2015

Change Ahead: Is it time to upgrade your backup platform?

Myriad IT has recently become a CommVault partner which has lead to a number of queries from our clients wondering whether their existing backup solution is sufficient or whether they should be considering other options.

It is a challenging decision given the need to balance budgets (get more with less), ensure data  is protected and manage for the future. In this blog post, Myriad IT endeavours to outline some of the major considerations for those weighing up backup solutions:

1. Optimisation - Does your existing backup solution help to optimise your environment?
  • Reducing complexity means that backup resources can be utilised in other areas - Are there manual processes that could be eliminated? is backup managed with a single platform interface? how many products do you use?
  • How is deduplication managed? Dedeuplication on the source side can reduce demand on the storage network & infrastructure. 
2. Technical/Operational - Are you able to meet current/future technical and operational requirements?
  • Are you able to effectively manage data growth? Is your system easily scalable.
  • Are you able to backup within available backup windows? even as data grows?
  • Have you ever had problems meeting SLAs, recovering data or compliance? Will you be able to adhere to SLAs for recovering data in the future?
  • Is your data protection at the edge(remote sites, desktops, laptops and other devices)?
  • What projects are planned in the next year that might impact backup and recovery processes? Could backup pose risks to the success of these projects?
  • Are your maintenance costs growing over time?
  • Do you have flexibility in hardware selection? What is the impact when current hardware is outgrown?
 3. Data management - Are you efficiently managing data?
  • What are the demands on resources for data management? Does backup drain IT staff that could be deployed elsewhere?
  • Do you have insight into your data/environment to help better manage it? 
  • Do you have file level information to enable you to retire data at the right time (save storage space).
4. Financial - do you fully understand backup costs for the next 3-5 years?
  • What is the TCO for the length of time you expect to continue your backup solution? (e.g. will hardware need to be added?, will more staff time be needed for backup processes, reporting etc). 
  • Are you locked into hardware choices?
  • Are there any hidden costs?
  • Costs over the same period for alternative backup solutions
5.  Risks of switching backup solutions
  • How much time would it take to become fully operational with a new solution?
  • What demands would switching place on staff?
  • How is data protected during transition?
  • Total costs - new hardware, software, training, staff etc.
Posted by Myriad IT, 4th March 2015
www.myriad-it.com

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