Digital transformation journeys are different for every business. Some organisations choose to move business critical applications first, for example, migrating Exchange to Microsoft Office 365. While other businesses, such as retail companies, might move their online sales platform to a public cloud solution, seeing value in the flexibility and enhanced customer experience.  

However, there is one element of the IT framework that all businesses should consider adding to their digital transformation journey.  

Back Up as a Service (BUaaS) exists to add a layer of resilience and compliance to businesses across the UK. The days of tape rotation are gone, and while localised backup to disk solutions improve the RTO (Recovery Time Objective), the fact is, they don’t provide the resilience that modern businesses need.  

BUaaS solutions, provided by Cloud Service Providers such as Timico, enable IT Directors and IT resources to focus on projects that add value to the business. 

How BUaaS works 

Much like a local backup solution, an agent is placed on target devices. However, instead of backing up to a local device, such as NAS or spare disks, the data is sent across the WAN to the Cloud Service Provider’s data centre. This is where all similarities to local backup solutions end, and the true benefits of BUaaS begin. 

Benefits of BUaaS 

Data centre resilience. The cost of developing a data centre is beyond the means of most businesses. With redundant power supplies, air-conditioning, and links, a data centre is the safest place to store data. Add to that the security levels that a data centre provides, with biometric entry and exit points, cameras and even guards, and it’s a wonder all businesses aren’t utilising the facilities, instead just the forward-thinking few. 

Accessibility. Should a business wish to have data from multiple locations backed up to a single point, a BUaaS makes this possible. Likewise, if a business wishes to move data to a new location, the service can be brought into a migration plan.  

Recovery Point Objective. A limitation of local backups is the volume of data a business can physically store. Compliance in various sectors state that project data must be kept for a minimum of 10 years. For organisations that produce large volumes of data, the disk space required for backup purposes alone will grow exponentially during that time. At some point during that 10-year period, the hardware will reach end of life, creating a large project to move the data, adjust the backup schedule and of course, test the original data. Not only do BUaaS solutions from Timico remove the need for businesses to concern themselves with replacing hardware, but they provide a scalability that most businesses could not replicate in-house. As software becomes more intelligent, data sizes grow. The volume of data businesses store is becoming vast. For those businesses seeking a longer RPO, the benefits of a BUaaS solution far outweigh the risk of a localised backup solution. 

Freedom. With the backups being taken care of by an experienced cloud service provider, such as Timico, IT Directors find themselves able to focus on areas of the business where their time is better served to make improvements. Backup tests are carried out on schedule and on demand, and reports are provided to the business for full transparency.  

Digitally Transforming. For businesses looking to digitally transform, moving to a BUaaS solution could be the catalyst for future plans. By storing all the backup data in a central data centre, moving services across to a private cloud platform is the next logical step. For many, the move makes perfect sense, reduces risk and allows the transition from local to cloud simpler, with less risk.  

Why Timico? 

As a Cloud Service Provider, Timico has partnered with Veeam, creators of the industry-leading backup software to provide a range of solutions to meet the needs of UK businesses.  

At Timico, we pride ourselves on being the number one business to turn to for digital transformation guidance and expertise, and our partnership with Veeam is testament to our experience and capabilities.  

If your business is looking for ways to reduce risk, streamline processes and implement solutions that enable your IT staff to add value to the business, then contact us today for a free consultation. Our aim is to help our customers stay connected, productive and secure. Contact us today to see how we can you achieve that goal.