Backup for SaaS Applications: What IT Leaders Need to Know
Why is it important to protect the data that is stored in SaaS Applications?
Data stored in SaaS applications is vulnerable to data loss, which can be caused by a variety of scenarios. The three main sources of SaaS data loss are:
- Internal data loss: Accidental or malicious data loss caused by users, developers or administrators of the SaaS application
- External data loss: Data loss resulting from a hack or vulnerability of a customer account
- Provider-caused data loss: Data loss resulting from a provider level breach or failed software update
What can I learn from the report?
IT leaders tasked with the protection of SaaS data can use this report to find out which assessments they should make to decide if they need a backup as a service (BaaS) provider and which kind of backup provider can fulfill their needs. Gartner finds that the variety of offerings from backup providers brings various challenges for potential clients. This report gives IT leaders and SaaS application administrators an overview of the benefits and uses of third-party backup solutions.
Read the full report to learn:
- The main threats to data stored in SaaS Applications
- 4 Types of providers and backup types
- The basic architecture for third-party backup of SaaS applications
- The top 5 benefits and uses of third-party backup
- Recommendations on how to select and choose backup products
- A list of vendors offering backup for key SaaS applications
Read the full Gartner Report: Backup for SaaS Applications
What is Backup as a Service?
Backup for SaaS applications enables customers to protect data in SaaS applications and is similar in concept to traditional backup for on-premises applications. To determine whether data in a SaaS application needs to be protected, customers must consider a number of factors and make a case-by-case decision. The main issues to consider include:
- Business criticality of the data: What are the implications of data loss for the application and the business in general? What is the impact of SaaS provider downtime on your business?
- SaaS providers' data protection capabilities: What does the SaaS provider offer in terms of data recovery, and does this comply with the demands and requirements of your business?
- Availability and cost of supplementary data protection: What options are available to supplement the provider's capabilities, and how much do they cost?