Disaster Recovery Journal Spring 2024

Any organization needing to protect data in any other cloud-based applications will find few, if any, solutions at all. There only exists a handful of providers actively develop ing data protection for data hosted in multiple cloud-based applications. This lack of availability of data protection choices minimally stems from at least the following three factors: A lack of understand ing organizations needs to protect their data in cloud-based applications . Organizations have only now come to terms they need to protect data in Microsoft 365 or Salesforce. They may have yet to realize they need to assume responsibility and back up the data that resides in all their cloud-based applica

tions. Only once they come to this conclusion will demand for this type of data protection software increase. With so many cloud backup provider begin? Organizations may want to backup data in any number of cloud-based applications. These include database-as a-service (DBaaS), infra structure-as-a-service (IaaS), platform-as-a-service (PaaS), and software-as-a-service (SaaS), among others. Some providers estimate the total number of cloud-based appli cations could reach into the tens of thousands. They must first prioritize where to begin and then develop integra tions for them. Completing this integration for some of based applications to protect, where does a

them, much less all of them, represents a monumental task. Cloud-based applications lack many APIs or have no APIs to facilitate backups and restores . Organizations are not the only ones that have yet to fully grasp they need to protect data in cloud-based applications. Their providers may also fail to see the need for organizations to use third party software to protect data stored in their application. As a result, providers do not offer APIs backup software can use to protect data in their applica tion. Next Best Steps Organizations may feel hopeless as they consider the scope of this challenge of protecting data in their cloud based applications. They have few or no backup options to protect data even though they use more cloud-based applica tions. Thankfully, organiza tions can take at least three steps now: Backup data in the cloud based applications that have the greatest visibility in their organization . If your organi zation uses Survey Monkey and loses data stored there, no one may yet know or care. However, if data loss occurs in Microsoft 365, the internal repercussions may be more severe. Begin by protecting data in these highly visible cloud-based applications and then tackle others. Prioritize data protection software that includes artificial intelligence

(AI) which detects unusual activity which helps stop data loss and theft. Regularly export data out of other cloud-based applications . Almost every cloud-based application pro vides an option to export data out of them. While manual and tedious, organizations can minimally get copies of their data out of these services. Depending on the amount of data and its criticality, organi zations may want to schedule exports weekly, monthly, or quarterly. Identify and partner with a provider focused on cloud-based application data protection at scale . Organizations concerned about automating and central izing data protection of their cloud-based applications need to take a more sophisticated approach. They simply cannot go out and buy software that protects them all since it does not exist. In this scenario, they must identify a provider who gives them the tools to automate cloud-based data protection. A few such providers already exist. They ideally will offer AI in their tool so it can auto matically write the code to protect the data in these cloud based applications. v

Jerome Wendt, an AWS Certified Solutions Architect, is the president and founder of DCIG, LLC., a technology analyst firm. DCIG, LLC.,

focuses on providing competitive intel ligence for the enterprise data protection, data storage, disaster recovery, and cloud technology markets.

30 DISASTER RECOVERY JOURNAL | SPRING 2024