Arcserve Global Research: Cloud Investments are Increasing, But Data Protection Is Lagging

Arcserve’s annual independent survey of global IT decision-makers (ITDMs) is our way of keeping abreast of what’s essential to our customers and how we can best meet their needs. One of the glaring statistics the study found was that 43 percent of ITDMs falsely believe that cloud providers are responsible for protecting and recovering data in the public cloud.

That’s why anyone responsible for data protection must understand the shared responsibility model. Most cloud providers only take responsibility for protecting the infrastructure that runs all its cloud services. Customers are responsible for managing their data. That includes ensuring their data is protected, backed up, and recoverable.

More Misconceptions About Data Protection

The survey uncovered other areas where ITDMs aren’t meeting today’s data protection demands. Nearly two-thirds of those surveyed believe cloud backups are safer than on-premises backups. That isn’t necessarily the case. Cloud backups that include immutable storage, like AWS Object Lock, meet that expectation, as does immutable network-attached storage. Others may not.

Disaster Recovery Plans Are a Disaster

ITDMs aren’t keeping up with data protection requirements in other vital ways. One-third reported poorly documented disaster recovery plans, and 41 percent said their organization's disaster recovery plans weren’t up to date. That’s a massive problem because it’s too late when disaster strikes. You could lose some or all of your data, and the impacts can damage or even destroy your business.

"Organizations must understand that data protection and recovery responsibility lies with them, not the cloud provider,” said Florian Malecki, executive vice president of marketing at Arcserve. “The time to act is now, particularly amid growing hybrid and multi-cloud adoption as proven by our annual research—some 82% of ITDMs expecting to increase hybrid cloud investments and 70% expecting to increase multi-cloud investment."

Get On Track With Expert Help

Arcserve technology partners are experts at helping organizations large and small put the right technologies and solutions in place to ensure data protection and business continuity. Find an Arcserve technology partner here. To learn more about Arcserve products, check out our on-demand demos.