Business storage needs are rapidly growing. This trend is continuing to accelerate as a result of the use of big data, increased creation of multi-media files and regulatory requirements for file retention. Business IT departments are struggling to plan their storage needs. Scoping and purchasing hardware to meet current and future requirements has become a difficult, costly and risky task – under-provision and you could end up having to buy more hardware sooner than you expected, over-provision and you could end up paying for more than you need. It’s for this very reason that we are seeing more and more customers considering a move to the cloud at their next hardware refresh or when they begin to run out of storage locally.
However, we find that the public cloud may not be the best solution for everyone. In fact, a lot of customers we speak to are either considering a multi-cloud strategy to include private/hybrid cloud or avoiding / moving from the public cloud completely. There are several reasons for this. The first comes down to data sovereignty – it’s almost impossible to know in the public cloud where your data is physically stored. People have become much more careful with their data and like to know exactly where it resides. Another reason, and why some companies back out of the public cloud, is because of data transfer charges – we have heard stories from businesses we meet of bill-shock at the end of the month when they had to transfer large volumes of data in or out of the public cloud. Thirdly, you need skills and expertise to navigate the public cloud – there is no one to hold your hand, and if something goes wrong you are just a number.
Don’t forget – Wherever you store your data – either on-premise or in the cloud you need to protect it. Business-critical files can easily be mistakenly deleted. (Human error is one of the biggest causes of data loss). Failures of hardware or software can and do happen. Security breaches are happening on a more regular basis. In any of these scenarios it is vital for business resiliency that you not only have an off-site backup of your data and servers (virtual or physical) but also have the ability to restore in a consistent and timely fashion.
When choosing a cloud provider, it should boil down to two main things – 1. What is the data strategy and security posture you have as a business and 2. the right partner for your business in terms of customer service.
Viatel offer the power of enterprise storage without the cost and complexity of owning and managing storage infrastructure. The FLEXI Cloud Storage has enterprise class features so that it looks, performs and behaves like an enterprise appliance – with all the advantages of being in the cloud. However, 1 copy of your data won’t be enough. Backup your data in Viatel’s data centres in Dublin and Cork for extra peace of mind through our cloud based, secure off-site solution.
To learn more about Viatel’s Cloud solutions click here or if you would like to talk to one of the team today pick up the phone and call us on 01-2569200 or sales@viatel.com .
