PROS AND CONS OF CLOUD VS IN-HOUSE BACKUP

If you’re looking at a backup device for your organization, the most important question to ask is whether cloud verses in-house backup will meet corporate needs. It’s also equally as vital to understand the difference between enterprise and personal backup systems.

When any organization begins to look at a backup solution for business, it must first eliminate all personal file-based backup options. This technology comes cheap, but only functions as basic file storage. Personal backup is not built for enterprise use: it’s inefficient in recovering large amounts of data, and it’s not made to support applications. Enterprise backup does more than just store files, it provides business continuity by keeping corporate operations running.

When it comes to enterprise backup, cloud solutions can be more expensive than in-house options. Although, the benefits of being in the cloud can far outweigh the costs for some businesses. If your business is heavily reliant on uptime and instant recovery, it may be worth paying more for a cloud solution with an uptime guarantee. Although, businesses that aren’t as reliant on uptime may be more suited to an in-house backup.

Here are some pros and cons of cloud verses in-house backup to help determine which solution is right for your business:

PROS AND CONS OF CLOUD BACKUP

Pros

·         No need for onsite hardware or capital expenses. Well-suited to smaller companies that may outgrow storage too quickly.

·         Storage can be added as needed. Solutions are often on-demand, so you only pay for what you need.

·         Backup and restore can be initiated from anywhere, using any computer, tablet, or smartphone.

·         Data can be backed up in the cloud as regularly as 15-minute intervals, minimizing data losses in disaster situations. Small data set recovery time is improved.

Cons

·         The costs of the data recovery could outweigh the benefits for companies that are not as dependent on uptime and instant recovery.

·         Every organization will have a limit to data that can be stored in the cloud due to storage availability and cost.

·         If the Internet goes down on your side or on your cloud provider’s side, you won’t have access to any of your information.

·         Full data recovery could prove very time-consuming and impactful on systems.

PROS AND CONS OF IN-HOUSE BACKUP

Pros

·         Gives you physical control over your backup.

·         Keeps critical data in-house. No third party has access to your information.

·         No need to rely on an Internet connection for access to data.

·         Can be more cost-effective for small to mid-sized companies.

Cons

·         Requires a capital investment in hardware and infrastructure.

·         Needs space in your office for a rack or server room/closet, in addition to dedicated IT support.

·         May be more susceptible to data loss during disaster situations due to its in-house location. How often you take the data offsite will reflect how much data you’ll lose in an emergency.

·         No uptime or recovery time guarantees.

As you can see, there are many pros and cons when comparing cloud verses in-house backups. For this reason, I recommend a hybrid model – a combination of in-house and cloud-based solutions.

Hybrid backup gives clients the best of both worlds. In-house backup hardware removes total reliability on the Internet and at the same time, brings guaranteed uptime with cloud services. Hybrid backup also gives companies greater security with redundancy. With this setup, corporate data is backed up both onsite with hardware and offsite with a cloud solution. Lastly, this setup can mediate any potential issues with storage and cost by bringing scalability at a lesser cost.