Is Your Cloud Data at Risk?

Here's a lesser known fact: data stored in cloud-based applications, like Office 365 and Google Apps, can be just as vulnerable to deletion and corruption as data stored on premises. So, you have to ask yourself, "why aren't you backing it up?"

3 truths about data stored in the cloud are:

1. User error is the number one cause of data loss.

2. Cloud vendors keep deleted data for limited retention periods. (weeks)

3. Some cloud vendors charge additional fees for data recovery.

In a recent report from Forrester, they cite that "while the vendors provide the applications, almost all mention explicitly in their terms and conditions that protecting data is the client's responsibility." Many organizations don't plan their own protection "for every new SaaS server to which you subscribe." I urge you to understand how your data is being protected and to what degree, if any, the vendor has a plan for recovery quickly.

See Forrester's report on the state of SaaS backup.