Top 12 Business backup Software (Oct 2022)

A Buyer's Guide to Business backup Solutions

Backup Solutions Buyer’s Guide
 
Thousands of email exchanges, millions of data inputs on the database, hundreds of file creations, and about a hundred more of document downloads via the internet – this is all about Big Data and this is really happening today on a large company on the daily basis. While we know that thumb drives, CDs and external hard drives are still helping us in transferring our files from one computer to another, probably one of the main challenges that most professionals are facing today is on how to keep their data secured, protected and recoverable when disaster occurs. A few years back, it was reported that about 65% of working professionals are loosing their files in their home PC. But today, most businesses and private organizations have already found ways on how to prevent such incident from happening to their professionals who are either working from home or on their company premise. It’s the backup solutions.
 
Backup solution is not a new technology. In fact, basic and already old storage systems such as tapes, disks and rewritable CDs are still being sold until today. But with the advancements in technology and with the emergence of more digital consumers over the past decades, network servers are now the data gatekeepers of many organizations. In this Buyer’s Guide, we from ITQlick.com would like to tour you at large in the new hall of the backup solutions technology. Moreover, through this buyer’s guide, we will help you in finding the right solution that can protect, secure, and recover your data in case of loss. Whether you’re in business or in a non-profit organization, this is a must-read article for you. 
 
Types
Okay, backup solutions. Let’s get down into the basic first. Backup solutions these days are categorized into these three types.
 
Backup Software
For organizations that already have their IT infrastructures in place (the network servers to be specific), they can only buy a backup software product as an option. Vendors such as Cheyenne, DataMirror and Hewlett-Packard are among of the providers of this type of solution.
 
Backup Appliance
Yes, an appliance that is bundled with software product is yet another backup solution ideal for small businesses. It is an all-in-one machine and it offers different features which in turn provide easy management. NetBackup and Symantec are the known providers of backup appliance solutions.
 
Cloud-based/Hosted Backup
If it’s about cloud-based backup solutions, the sky is the limit when it comes to the number of providers. Probably, everybody knows Google Drive, Microsoft Skydrive, and DropBox. They are the solutions suited for the consumer market. Cloud-based backup solution is simply a solution that is accessible via the internet. It’s an anytime, anywhere backup system and many companies are using this today.
 
Dedicated Backup Server
Organizations who want to have full control of their backup system should invest on dedicated backup servers. Large companies and huge data centers are the major investors on this type of solution. To name a few, Dell, EMC2, FalconStor, HP and IBM are the leaders in this market.
 
Many solutions providers today are offering hybrid solutions. This is the combination of two or three of those types of solutions in single package. For more information about these hybrid solutions, you can ask solution experts from dependable software companies like ITQlick.com.  With years of experience in the software business, we can definitely help you find that right backup solution by assessing you business requirements in detail.
 
Features
If it’s about features, every backup solution is rich on that. Let’s start with the key features. Say that you are a first time buyer of a backup solution, the basic features to look for are as follows:

• Storage Space
• Data Compression
• Remote Backup
• Open File Access
• Encryption

 
Below are the features that often go with cloud-based and dedicated-server types. Invite your IT team to go through this list and identify according to priority those features that are needed by your organization.
 

• File Backup
• Folder backup
• Image/Full Backup
• Differential Backup
• Incremental Backup
• Password Protection
• Virus Scanning
• Media Spanning
• Backup Verification
• Automatic Operation
• Scheduling and Reporting
• Wide Device Support
• Operating System Support
• Disaster Recovery and Restore
• Backup Configuration/Customization
• Bandwidth Throttling
• Automatic Data Protection

 
More importantly, always examine these features in the backup solution that you are going to buy.
 

• Easy to Deploy
• Easy to Manage
• Help and Support

 
Solutions per Business Size, per Vendor
Each vendor has its own market of expertise. Looking into another perspective, some solutions providers are best on physical environment (dedicated servers) while others are on virtual environment (cloud-based). Before we name a few of these market players, let us go over first with these three critical steps or tests when evaluating a backup solution provider.
 

1. Carefully examine the product that they are offering. As much as you can, always assess the product’s features, usability, affordability, and architecture. This is the smartest way of getting to know well the product before buying it.
2. Ask this to yourself: what type of vendor am I looking for? To help you answer this question better, assess a certain solution provider by checking these four aspects in detail: viability, strategy, reach and channel. All these four aspects pertain to vendor’s overall capability of offering to its clients the most reliable backup system regardless of its price and the size of the market it serve.
3. Finally, consider the value that this specific solution can bring into your organization. Can password protection really help your employees avoid identity theft? Can the “wide device support” feature answer the issues of your personnel working offsite? Find the value factor in every solution that you are going to examine.

 
Now, try to investigate if the solution providers on this list can pass on the above three critical vendor evaluation tests.
 
For the Consumer Market, the providers are:

• Carbonite
• iDrive
• Mozy
• DropBox
• Backblaze

 
For the SME market, the providers are:

• KineticD
• Ibackup
• Zetta.net
• ROBOBAK
• VaultLogix

 
For large enterprises, the providers are:

• Symantec
• CommVault
• CA technologies
• NetApp
• EMC

 
Pricing Considerations
How much does each type of backup solution costs? If it’s a cloud-based solution, price is basically based on the storage space that you are going to buy. However, with the increasing number of possible combinations for hardware, software, users, service, and storage capacity, this is not how backup solutions are priced anymore. Let’s go over to these prevailing pricing models in the market today.
 
For cloud-based solution, which is priced per storage space per month, you can get a solution from as low as $10 for a 10GB storage space. An annual plan can cost you around $450 for a 100GB storage space. You can save some amount if you increase your storage space and if you choose to avail the long-term plan.
 
The cost of backup software offered by most solution providers is way affordable. The average cost is $45 per license and that already includes tons of features.
 
When it comes to dedicated server types, the pricing scheme is packed with technical specifications. Since you are buying the server plus the software product as one solution, price is dependent on the processor specs, size of both RAM and storage space, traffic bandwidth, and server management. Dedicated server solutions are hosted type and therefore they are also priced on a subscription basis. Price is from $80 to $800 per month.
 
Cost of backup appliance is from $500 to $10,000 (or higher). Pricing is base on the appliance specification and the bundled IT support from the solution provider.
 
We want to emphasize that there are various service plans and packages that you are about to encounter in the backup solutions market. As our advice here from ITQlick.com, always invite your IT team when assessing the pricing aspect of your preferred solution. Alternatively, you can consult with software experts for more informed advice about backup solution pricing models.
 
Market Trends
The backup solution market has been showing a lot of progress over the past two years and promising more sophisticated solutions to be released beginning this year.
 
Last 2013, the huge impact of the Backup and Disaster Recover Plan (BDR) was realized both to the small and large business sector. Referred to as “Business Continuity”, this is the BDR’s capability to provide full operation support or backup while there is an on-going outage or failure of the main server system.
 
New methods such as zone-level deduplication, file-based storage and automated storage tiering are already being incorporated in most backup solutions. These methods are focusing on improving data availability among data networks.
 
Many companies are now moving to Virtual Management backup solution. They want their data to be virtually managed (or be hosted via the cloud) as a way to reduce cost on maintenance and facility upgrade.
 
Many providers are also focus on enhancing more the data security and encryption features of their offered solutions. What this mean for a solution buyer like you is that you can expect more reliable and dependable backup solutions in the market anytime soon.
 
Amidst of these positive trends, keep in mind that buying the backup solution that will provide the best value to your organization is always the right option to take.
Finding the right Business backup software for your business
Proper Business backup software selections are the precursor to successful deployment and business growth. Finding the right Business backup solutions doesnít have to be complicated, and it doesnít have to take days or weeks of your time.

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