Why Cloud-First Data Protection is the best option for DPaaS 

The MSP industry is facing and ongoing movement across customers’ transition to the cloud, the evolving threat landscape, and a skills shortage that seems to be more pronounced than ever. Consider these facts from Gartner^[1]:

• More than 60% of practitioners are planning to increase their investment in Cloud and Security. 
• At the same time, IT executives see the talent shortage as the most significant adoption barrier to 64% of these emerging technologies.
• IT executives also cited talent availability as the main adoption risk factor for most IT automation technologies (75%), technologies which arguably shift technologists time away from arduous tasks to more strategic work. 

The threat landscape is also evolving as highlighted by some of the following statistics: 

• Malicious emails increased by more than 600%^[2] in Q1 of 2020 due to COVID-19. Business email compromise is one of the top ways ransomware enters a company’s network. 
• Experts estimated that a ransomware attack occurred every 11 seconds in 2021^[3].
• A survey of 1,263 companies revealed that 80% of victims who submitted a ransom payment experienced another attack soon after, and 46% got access to their data but most of it was corrupted^[4].

Data protection is a service that managed service providers (MSPs) need to consider as critical. The Data Protection landscape is changing and the lines between cloud, security, and data protection are blurring.

Vendors like N‑able who architected for cloud-first data protection have a competitive advantage and traditional backup vendors are making investments to fill that gap. So, why is SaaS-based Data Protection as a Service (DPaaS) so attractive and why does it represent the fastest growing data protection segment at >16% CAGR^[5]? 

The answer is surprisingly simple: better economics, more free time, great agility, and better security.

You might wonder why an image of Kale? Well, Kale in Brazilian Portuguese is “Cove” and it is arguably a healthy food. And that summarizes the primary value of SaaS-based cloud-first data protection: a healthier way to do things, which in turn can lead to better quality of life. The same way it is probably healthier to use Microsoft 365 to deploy an email service versus building an Exchange server environment on-premises. We will explore the benefits around security in a separate blog but the improved time to value, freeing up resources, and cost benefit threads are worth exploring a bit more in detail.

There are several competing architectures to get the job of data protection (and ultimately the ability to recover) done:

Standalone Software

In this model, the customer (typically the MSP) manages the underlying data protection infrastructure end to end. Vendors in this space include Veeam, Commvault, Veritas etc.

You can see that the price for a monthly subscription for the data protection license is very attractive. And frankly it is better than Cove. However, you need to factor in the costs for a set of servers, the hypervisor license, fabric, storage etc. From an operating expense, you will need to consider data center costs, your time spent on procurement, and time spent on management in general. Imagine having to orchestrate patching of different parts of the infrastructure with four or five vendors just to keep the stack secure. Brett Mason, Founder of Traction IT quoted spending roughly 20 to 40 hours / month managing the standalone software solution. Some MSPs who switched to Cove have claimed they can they reduced their monthly management effort by up to a factor of five. 

Related Product

Cove

Approfitta del backup basato su cloud e del disaster recovery per server, workstation e dati di Microsoft 365.

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Integrated Appliance

In this model, the data protection vendor combines the data protection infrastructure (server and storage) with the data protection software into a single appliance form factor. Vendors in this space include Datto, Rubrik, Dell etc.

Some vendors like Datto take on a large portion of the management burden, which in the MSP space is very helpful. However, you still need to spend cycles on procurement, design, and sizing to get started. Data center costs also still apply. And you will now face a hefty price tag to deliver similar service levels to SaaS-based data protection. An MSP with 30 customers and 160 VMs of about 300GB can easily spend $500,000 more on a three-year timeframe than Cove, even though the outcome is arguably the same. With Cove, you spend the money as you go not based on what you think you MIGHT consume in the future. 

Data Protection as a Service (DPaaS)

In this scenario, the data protection vendor delivers the service eliminating the need to procure, size, and manage the infrastructure. Vendors in this category include Cove Data Protection by N‑able, Druva etc.

First off, don’t you love the fact that the pricing is transparent? No hidden costs or icebergs under the surface. Simplicity also affects clearly understanding the cost model. But in the context of end-to-end costs, it also reveals that a list price of $25 / VM / month is very compelling. And it allows MSPs to move down market, meaning they can address the backup needs of even the smallest customers, while still running a profitable business. 

There are other benefits to cloud-first and SaaS-based data protection. Your technicians’ morale and your ability to retain talent should be improved because they can focus their energy on work that is strategic including learning new technologies. In the end, if you could learn about effective strategies against cybercriminals isn’t that time better spent than managing the storage of your backups? 

Stefan Voss is VP, Product Management at N‑able

Sources

^[1] Gartner Survey Reveals Talent Shortages as Biggest Barrier to Emerging Technologies Adoption; September 13, 2021

^[2] InfoSecurity Magazine, 2021

^[3] Sophos, 2021

^[4] Cybereason, 2021

^[5] Beyond Backup—Data Management in the Cloud Era, William Blair, December 8, 2020