SaaS Backup and Recovery:
What it is & Why it’s Important
Do you have a backup strategy for your SaaS data?
Many cloud users mistakenly assume that their data is safe.
But according to the shared responsibility model, cloud customers are responsible for backing up their data. That’s where a good SaaS backup solution comes in handy. Ensuring consistent backups of your SaaS data significantly elevates cyber resilience, paving the way for seamless business continuity in the face of disruptions.
With that said, here’s what you should know about protecting your SaaS data.
7 Questions to Ask Your SaaS Vendor
The SRM says you’re responsible for backing up your data.
That, however, doesn’t mean you shouldn’t be aware of how your SaaS vendor handles your data. On the contrary. As Forbes Technology Council Member Vince Marino notes, here are seven questions to ask your Saas Vendor:
- Where is my business data stored (geography and location)?
- Where is my customers’ data stored (geography and location)?
- Is there a governance point in the SLA regulating the data storage?
- Is the existing cloud storage compliant with GDPR (or other regulations, depending on the standards required for your business)?
- Which features does the vendor have to support legislation-compliant scaling, and what is the development roadmap?
- What are the security measures implemented in each data storage location to protect data privacy?
- What are the protocols of data exchange between vendors (if you use multiple SaaS providers)?
Why Backup Your Okta Data?
No matter how much effort you put into protecting access to your okta tenant or cloud provider and all your digital assets and data, it’s almost impossible to prevent all instances of data loss and downtime.
This is partially because of the nature of the cloud, and also partially due to human error.
The importance of backing up your data is underscored by the 2022 Thales Cloud Security Study, which found that “45% of companies have experienced a data breach involving data in the cloud”.
An older study conducted by Spanning revealed that 80% of respondents have experienced data loss in their organizations’ SaaS deployments.
Recent events underscore the cost of unpreparedness.
MGM Resorts, hit by the ALPHV/BlackCat ransomware gang, saw daily losses upwards of $8.4 million, as noted by the Las Vegas Review Journal. This starkly illustrates the financial devastation of overlooking mission-critical data protection and recovery.
In essence, lack of SaaS backups can translate to multimillion-dollar losses
3 Ways a SaaS Backup Solution Can Help You
The opportunity cost of not choosing a SaaS backup solution is clear. Here are three concrete reasons why backup and recovery are valuable to your business:
- Money and Time Savings: Backing up your data will save you time and money. The cost of downtime is high. Plus, ensuring your customers can access their data will save your team valuable time, effort, and aggravation.
- Protecting Your Data AND Your Customer Data: It’s not just about your data. Your customer data is on the line too when you suffer from a data breach. This not only can adversely impact your customer relationships, but also leave you vulnerable to legal action.
- Data is a Growing Industry: Data isn’t going anywhere anytime soon. Neither is the cloud. And neither are hackers. Crowdstrike’s 2023 Global Threat Report reported a staggering 95% uptick in cloud exploitation over the course of 2022 and cases involving cloud-conscious actors tripling since 2021.
How to Evaluate Your Backup Strategy
If you don’t have a backup strategy, now is the time to create one. If you do, here are six questions to ask when evaluating it:
- What is your Recovery Point Objective (RPO)?
- What is your Recovery Time Objective (RTO)?
- Does your current strategy enable you to recover data from any point in time?
- Are you able to recover data AND metadata?
- Is your backup strategy automated and continuous?
- Is your data accessible outside of your SaaS platform?
Pro Tip: Acsense offers an easy, automated one-click backup and recovery solution that does enable you to recover data from any point in time!
What Should A SaaS Backup Solution Offer?
A leading SaaS backup solution, such as Acsense, should deliver:
Continuous Data Protection (RPO ~10 mins): Offers near real-time protection, moving beyond the constraints of traditional scheduled backup windows.
Any Point-in-Time Investigation: Enables swift incident investigation by comparing system states across different moments. This capability aids in identifying human errors, preparing for recovery, or pinpointing cyber incidents.
Continuous Integrity Checks: Guarantees the reliability and trustworthiness of your data and configurations, ensuring they’re ready for effective recovery.
Infinite Retention & Immutable Backups: Fulfill regulatory requirements with customizable retention periods for each tenant, while ensuring backups remain untampered and secure.
Hot Standby Tenant: Achieve minimal Recovery Time Objective (RTO) with a consistently synchronized pairing.
- Isolated Recovery Environment: In line with the 3-2-1 backup rule, a copy of your data is kept in an isolated “air-gapped” recovery environment, ensuring a reliable recovery.
Choose Acsense for a comprehensive, resilient, and cutting-edge IAM SaaS backup solution.
Act Now: Backup Your IAM Data With Acsense
Acsense is here to help you stay resilient and ensure you have not only a backup of your data, but also easy, instant one-click recovery . Interested in learning more about how we can help you?
Request a demo now.
