Cloud Data Protection: How Does It Work and Why Do You Need It?

March 2, 2022

You’re working and need to open up some files to review and share. But there’s one issue. The file is gone. It takes almost an hour to realize that the file you were looking for was in a different folder.

This makes you realize that you need to find a better way to organize and ensure the safety of your data. Who knows how many files could be lost or stolen? Human error is always bound to happen.

By 2025, the cloud industry is expected to be valued at $800 billion. That’s where cloud data protection comes in. Cloud security can improve workflow and efficiency for your company.

But how does it work? Why do you need it? Read on if you’d like to know more about it.

What Is Cloud Data Protection?

As data protection is part of a much more significant concept of the cloud, you must first be able to identify that a cloud service with a provider is a need. The more prominent subject is cloud computing, where servers are built to store tons of data.

These servers can be on-site (owned by your business), partnered with a third-party organization, or hybrid.

On-site requires lots of spending on hardware, IT teams, managing expenses – all the company’s functions. If using a third party, that cloud service provider will take care of everything mentioned earlier. With a hybrid route, your company gets the benefit of transferring data to more locations, thus having more flexibility and security – but with a much higher expense.

Now that you know the basics of cloud computing, cloud data protection comes in.

IT support specialists are the backbone of cloud data protection. They’re in charge of constantly maintaining and updating software and security. However, with that comes costs, which you don’t have to worry about if you’re utilizing a third-party cloud service.

The protection includes data backup, traffic monitoring, and other layers of security like firewalls and encrypted files.

Services Offered

There are multiple data protection services suited for your needs. Cloud data protection is excellent whether your business focuses on streaming services, selling software, or needing better organization.

Here is what cloud service providers can offer:

Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS): Great for organizing your company data, IaaS is the “starter” for renting servers, networking, and storage. Here’s where you can learn more about server infrastructure.

Platform as a Service (PaaS): Platforms offer tools that can assist your company in researching and developing products and testing them out. AI can also provide excellent data analysis tools.

Software as a Service (SaaS): This is used for companies that want to provide software to customers. It can be like selling an operating system or Dropbox’s feature of transferring files with ease.

Cloud data protection is provided for all these services and can be constantly monitored. This is how it can benefit your business.

How It Works

Files and other data are stored in physical warehouses, on-site or with a third-party cloud service. For third-party services, these warehouses will contain servers where all the files go through the internet – but don’t worry, it’s highly secure and off-limits to many people.

This also deters cybercriminals from stealing information from your business.

Your company will have to contact a cloud service to determine what you need to start this. You build that partner relationship and utilize each other’s services.

Why Use Cloud Data Protection?

Cloud data provides excellent security. However, it’s also affordable and flexible for your company. It can also help you get more organized, significantly benefiting your business.

Cheaper

Maintaining your servers, networks, and IT specialists can cost a lot of money. Servers can easily foot over $100,000 in bills from setup and maintenance.

You can reduce the costs by hiring a third-party servicer. They can handle all the expenses related to hardware and IT specialists.

Flexible

Cloud data services offer a wide array of flexibility for your business. Depending on the size of your company, you can choose to pay for what fits your needs when you need to grow or reduce.

For example, if you need more storage because your company is expanding, you must contact your cloud servicer. They can help you through the process and let you pay for what you need.

Organized

Cloud data protection offers ways to keep your company organized. Monitoring your files and data means knowing who has permission to access them and who isn’t allowed the privilege. That also means you will quickly identify when a cybercriminal is trying to break in.

If that happens, the system can notify the cloud servicer, and their IT specialists will ensure to lock the cybercriminal out of the system.

Since security and organizing data synergize together, it enables your company to work in a fast and timely manner without negative pressure, thus saving you time and money.

Other Benefits

Another plus is the ability to budget for more in the future since you will save so much by switching to a cloud service. Instead of spending that $100,000+ on hardware and data, you can use that money to focus on other aspects of your business, such as focusing on developing more products rather than maintaining servers.

Time equals money. In addition to saving money, your company saves time because of the speeds the cloud can provide. It also gives you more time to work on other critical operations like data analysis and research.

Cloud Data Protection and the Future

We expect about 70% of companies to switch over to the cloud by 2023. This means that more budgets will be placed on cloud protection.

Data protection will surely be a top priority if most data is in the cloud, like storage getting cheaper as the years go by; security can also become more affordable as it grows, and it becomes easier to protect your data.

Exploring Your Options

By learning about cloud data protection, we can conclude how it works and why you need it. Data is secured in off-site locations away from people, making it harder to steal.

Cloud data protection offers benefits like cheaper costs and flexibility. It also improves the speeds at which data can be stored and transferred, improving security.