5 Reasons Why Every Business Needs SaaS Backup
Many organizations have embraced cloud services from software as a service (SaaS) providers such as Microsoft, Google, and Salesforce. It is easy to see why. Each service has a unique set of functionalities that’s critical to business operations. Consider the email you are using to communicate with your team, for example, is most likely part of Microsoft 365 or Google Workspace. SaaS platforms are a large part of our day-to-day business operations and the data that they generate needs to be protected.
When a SaaS tool already does so much, it’s easy to forget who is responsible for what. Even though SaaS solutions may store important data, backing up that data is still your responsibility. No matter which SaaS tool you are using, each recommend in their respective terms and conditions that customers use a third-party backup solution to retain the operational data and access they require in the event of an unforeseen disaster or disruption.
Although SaaS platforms offer flexibility and reliability, they don’t provide data security. Assuming that your data is secure just because it’s on SaaS workloads is a risk not worth taking. Despite their many advantages, SaaS platforms are not immune to data loss.
There are several factors that cause data loss. Here are the top five:
- Human Error: Human error is one of the leading causes of data loss. Unfortunately, it’s unavoidable. Simple errors, such as accidentally deleting an account or an important email, or mistakenly downloading a malicious attachment, can turn into a disaster if they go undetected. Since SaaS providers cannot determine whether a request is intentional or unintentional, they will consider it a legitimate command and process it.
- SaaS Retention Policies: SaaS applications have a limited retention period. Microsoft allows a maximum retention period of 180 days, after which the data is permanently deleted. Google Workspace automatically deletes the trash folder after 30 days. Once the trash has been deleted, the data can’t be recovered or restored.
- Programmatic Errors: These types of errors are also known as sync errors. They’re a common scenario when integrating multiple SaaS applications. Such errors can potentially corrupt your critical data and can lead to permanent data loss.
- Malicious Insider Activity: Your employees are arguably the greatest threat to your data, especially when their intentions are malicious. Since disgruntled or malicious employees have access to your data, they can easily bypass security controls to overwrite or delete critical business information.
- Cyberattacks: In 2022, organizations around the world detected 493.33 million ransomware attempts. Cybercriminals are getting smarter and cyberattacks are becoming increasingly sophisticated. A cyberattack occurs roughly once every 39 seconds.
With these varied causes of data loss, SaaS platforms are not as safe as you think. Regardless of what a Service-Level Agreement (SLA) defines, you must have appropriate security measures in place to protect the critical data your organization stores in the cloud. Let’s face it: it’s your data and it’s your responsibility to protect that data. Having a robust backup solution will not only help you enjoy the benefits of SaaS platforms but also ensure business continuity in the event of a breach
If recent events have taught us anything, it is that change can create uncertainties almost overnight, especially in technology.
SaaS applications and workloads create and utilize critical data to help you make the most informed decisions for your products, customers, and company. Where there’s critical data, not only is secure backup a necessity but, so is redundancy—even in the cloud. SaaS backup is the first step towards securing business-critical, valuable data against tomorrow’s uncertainties.
Zerto Backup for SaaS, powered by KeepIt, provides backup and recovery for all your key SaaS workloads in a single vendor-neutral platform. Covering Microsoft 365, Azure Active Directory, Dynamics 365, Salesforce, and Google Workspace, Zerto provides:
- Lifetime retention of all your data
- Robust security via built-in blockchain
- Business continuity with 24/7 find and restore
- Cost effectiveness with a flat fee per user, including unlimited data storage and retention
- Instant recovery to retrieve SaaS data in seconds
As we’ve seen, there are several common ways SaaS data can be compromised. To help enterprises avoid disruption due to lost or inaccessible SaaS data, Zerto Backup for SaaS has a dedicated, vendor-neutral SaaS data backup solution that is resilient, secure, and easy to use.
We welcome the opportunity to show you what Zerto can do for you. Get in touch to learn more or request a demo.
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Sarah Doherty Senior Product Marketing Manager
