Latest Asigra platform targets SaaS backup for MSPs
Asigra's forthcoming SaaSBackup platform lets Asigra data protection technology protect SaaS backups. MSPs will be able to sell SDK connections through a new marketplace.
Asigra is looking to serve its SaaS data protection capabilities to MSPs through a new platform.
Asigra SaaSBackup aims to provide comprehensive data backup and protection services for MSPs that need to protect customer data stored in SaaS applications. MSPs can also develop their own connections for data backup capabilities in SaaS apps with the platform's software developer kit (SDK) and resell them through the Asigra SaaSBackup marketplace.
The SaaSBackup platform will be a separate product from the company's flagship and only other offering, Tigris Data Protection, formerly Asigra Cloud Backup. The SaaSBackup technology is based on the company's prior technology but focuses on SaaS backup and object storage.
Asigra, headquartered in Toronto, expects SaaSBackup to enter general availability in the third quarter of the 2023 for North American customers with worldwide availability and additional features, such as the marketplace, becoming available throughout 2024.
Only the most business-critical and largest SaaS applications, such as Microsoft 365, Google Workspace and Salesforce, tend to be backed up by enterprises. That leaves a large amount of data and valuable information vulnerable to the wider internet, according to Marc Staimer, president and founder of Dragon Slayer Consulting.
"The vast majority of organizations do not recognize that SaaS applications are not backed up," Staimer said. "There's a ton of SaaS apps. And at the end of the day, if you're not backing [data] up, hopefully you don't mind losing it if there's an outage."
Muscle for hire
The Asigra SaaSBackup platform, like HYCU's recent R-Cloud product, provides backup capabilities to SaaS offerings through user-built code connections. Asigra, however, uses an SDK to develop connectors to the SaaSBackup platform over HYCU's low-code platform for its own service.
The SaaSBackup SDK will tie into a new marketplace, providing MSPs with a platform to sell any connectors they develop to other customers, according to Eric Simmons, CEO at Asigra.
"We can begin to build as many SaaS applications as time and resources permit. With the SDK, we can open up to anyone who makes a SaaS application," he said. "We're going to enable partners to build their connectors using a similar foundation much faster versus a more open approach."
Many MSPs or backup companies already concoct connections for underserved SaaS products, according to Staimer. The Asigra marketplace allows MSPs to take those connections and not only serve their customers but also make some extra revenue.
"They've opened it up so their customers can do the same," Staimer said.
Same protection, new service
Asigra SaaSBackup users can choose their own storage location, enabling data backup both on premises and in the cloud to any AWS S3 compatible object store. Asigra offers cloud storage from partners Wasabi and Backblaze.
If you're not backing [SaaS data] up, hopefully you don't mind losing it if there's an outage.
Marc StaimerPresident, Dragon Slayer Consulting
SaaSBackup also offers SaaS discovery tools through a partnership with Augmentt Technology, which helps map what SaaS applications enterprise departments are using without IT's knowledge.
Seven functions using multi-person approval technology are available through the service, including account controls, deletion capabilities and restoration tools. These capabilities require multiple users, inside or outside IT departments depending on customer needs, to approve any changes to backups.
Asigra sells through channel partners and MSPs, limiting its brand awareness in the larger market. But it offers a comprehensive set of capabilities to combat ransomware and protect backups, according to Staimer.
Staimer specifically noted that Asigra's software has the capability to detect malicious changes to a file before payload detonation and helps customers reconstruct data before a ransomware infection can gestate.
Tim McCarthy is a journalist living on the North Shore of Massachusetts. He covers cloud and data storage news.
