How can I improve my SaaS backup strategy?

As end users migrate toward cloud-based IT deployments, there are a number of ways traditional internal IT platforms can be moved to public cloud services. Software as a service has become a major option for many IT organizations that are looking to remove the overhead of delivering a range of standardized IT services such as email, collaboration tools and CRM systems.

As a migration to software as a service (SaaS) takes place, the onus of managing the underlying infrastructure moves to the SaaS provider, requiring them to deliver assistance based on well-documented service levels and objectives. Typically, this includes a SaaS backup strategy to return a specific service to normal operations. In terms of data management, this simply means restoring from the last backup and rolling forward any journaled or log updates that bring the application to the most current state.

Backups that will be used for historical recovery are not included in the SaaS backup strategy. In fact, if data recovery is required due to the fault of the customer, then SaaS providers will see it as a "value add" service and the cost will increase accordingly. This means IT organizations must put processes into place to cater to restore requirements needed in case of user error, compliance or e-discovery.

There are plenty of tools and services on the market that can be used in an organization's SaaS backup strategy. Building a process for backing up SaaS applications can be provided by any of these tools; however, the overall process for backup, whether on-premises, infrastructure as a service or SaaS, doesn't change.