Taking into account that situations like the current one are not only characterized by damage to the economy, but, more importantly for companies, they can interrupt routine processes, a backup plan based on rule 3-2 -1 should seek to make at least three copies of the data, on two different devices and keeping at least one of the offsite copies to allow the return to operation of critical systems and applications in the most appropriate way for each situation.

Deploying cloud solutions like Amazon Web Services (AWS) S3 and Microsoft Azure is enabling companies around the world to access low-cost, flexible data storage. But at the same time, these services have also provided an easy way for companies to back up their data on external sites without resorting to the need to build secondary data centers and comply with the last premise of the backup rule before mentioned.

Although it is assumed that cloud providers will automatically protect the data stored on their systems, this is not usually the case and, in certain circumstances, it may be an additional service not contemplated in a standard way. On the other hand, also these days we are seeing how cyber threats are on the rise, taking advantage of the increase in digital activity and the need for remote access to data.

Due to the above and in many cases the backup tools provided in the service lack the flexibility, coverage capacity and integration with the applications, a big question arises: how can my organization protect the critical data and applications that are running? On the cloud? Micro Focus Data Protector is enterprise-class data protection software that helps simplify and optimize backup and recovery for heterogeneous, diverse, dynamic, and distributed IT environments. Likewise, Data Protector offers a native integration with cloud storage solutions in Amazon S3, Microsoft Azure, Scality and Ceph environments, allowing all the data exchanged or stored within these services to be compressed and encrypted for greater efficiency and security.

The integration included with Data Protector allows administrators to use cloud storage like any other backup objective: a simple click of the mouse sends data to the cloud rather than to a local device. Administrators can also access cloud services through gateway devices like AWS Storage Gateway and Microsoft Azure StorSimple, and control backup and restore.

Built on an adaptive architecture that combines security and analytics, it enables customers to meet their continuity needs reliably and cost-effectively. Data Protector offers built-in automation, monitoring and reporting - the three tools businesses need to efficiently manage their entire backup environment from a single console.

So, based on previous comments, what exactly can you expect when running Data Protector in a hybrid environment including a cloud one? Next we've listed some key capabilities and benefits: 

• Usage of existing backup infrastructure, including processes to preserve investments and reduce costs associated with training and reskilling. Data Protector maintains backup across the heterogeneous environment while fully integrating with new technologies like Microsoft Azure Stack, allowing you to transition to the cloud at your own pace, rather than having to take a big bang, all at once approach.
• Support of multiple backup topologies, regardless of agent or agentless deployment, on-premises or cloud. Unlike “one-size-fits-all” solutions, Data Protector accommodates diverse environments and adapts over time to meet evolving organizational needs.
• Application-awareness backup, providing application consistency, data integrity and recoverability for the most critical business applications, including Microsoft Exchange, Microsoft SQL, Oracle, SAP, and SAP HANA. The advanced recovery options include granular recovery, point-in-time recovery, and availability group support.
• Native cloud integrations with Microsoft Azure, Amazon S3 and S3 API-compliant storage such as Ceph and Scality allow seamless backup of data and applications to cloud.
• Support for cloud gateways, such as a StoreSimple gateway for Azure or Amazon AWS Gateway, allow offloading backup data to the cloud. 
• Support for backup appliances, such as HPE StoreOnce CloudBank and Dell EMC DataDomain Cloud Tier, enable seamless data transfer between on-premises backup data sets and cloud targets such as Amazon S3 and Microsoft Azure without the need for a gateway
• Advanced analytics and monitoring, measuring the effectiveness of meeting service level agreements in fast-paced hybrid cloud environments. Clear insight into backup status ensures there are no gaps in your protection coverage, and alerts to processes not running or completing as scheduled. Analytics determine resource utilization hot spots and allow for infrastructure cost and performance optimization.

Last but not least and, with the introduction of Data Protector Premium Edition and its capacity based pricing, it is easier to acquire additional capacity for the cloud while using a pay-as-you-grow model based on customers´ current and future storage and compute requirements.

Contact us to continue the conversation.