The Dangers of Consolidating Backup Systems: What You Need to Know
The backup industry is undergoing a significant transformation, with major players consolidating through mergers and acquisitions. While this trend promises streamlined solutions and expanded capabilities, it also brings potential dangers that organizations must be aware of when consolidating backup systems. This blog post explores these risks and offers insights on how to navigate them effectively.
(This blog post summarizes the main points of my latest podcast episode. If you’d like, you can listen to it or watch it at https://www.backupwrapup.com/)
Recent Industry Consolidations
The backup landscape has seen several high-profile acquisitions recently:
- Cohesity acquiring most of Veritas (NetBackup)
- Salesforce buying OwnBackup
- Veeam purchasing Alcion
- Commvault acquiring assets from Clumio
These moves reflect a broader trend in the industry, where companies that initially focused on specific workloads are being absorbed by larger entities seeking to expand their offerings.
The Risks of Legacy Backup Systems
One of the most significant dangers of consolidating backup systems is the tendency to keep legacy systems operational after a migration or consolidation. This practice can lead to several issues:
- Security Vulnerabilities
- Unmaintained legacy backup systems pose a substantial security risk. These systems often lack the latest security patches and updates, making them prime targets for cyberattacks. Additionally, forgotten or neglected systems may have outdated access controls, potentially allowing unauthorized access to sensitive data.
- Ongoing Costs
- Keeping legacy backup systems running incurs significant ongoing costs. These expenses include:
- Software licensing fees
- Hardware maintenance
- Support contracts
- Power and cooling costs for on-premises infrastructure
- These costs can quickly add up, especially when the systems are no longer actively used for primary backup operations.
- Data Retrieval Challenges
- Legacy backup systems are often not designed for easy data retrieval, particularly for specific files or emails from older backups. This limitation can make it difficult and time-consuming to respond to data requests, whether for business purposes or legal compliance.
- Legal and Compliance Risks
- Retaining old backup data can expose organizations to legal and compliance risks. In many jurisdictions, all data held by a company is potentially discoverable in legal proceedings. This includes data stored in legacy backup systems, even if it’s no longer actively used.
Navigating the Dangers of Consolidating Backup Systems
To mitigate these risks, organizations should consider the following strategies:
- Plan for Legacy Data
When consolidating backup systems, develop a comprehensive plan for managing legacy data. This plan should include strategies for data migration, retention, and eventual deletion.
- Decommission Old Systems
Wherever possible, decommission legacy backup systems once data has been migrated to new platforms. This action reduces security risks and ongoing costs.
- Consider Third-Party Solutions
Services like S2|DATA offer solutions for managing legacy backup data without maintaining the original backup infrastructure. These services can provide searchable access to old data while allowing organizations to shut down legacy systems.
- Implement Data Lifecycle Management
Develop and enforce policies for data retention and deletion. This approach helps minimize the amount of legacy data that needs to be managed and reduces associated risks.
- Regularly Review and Update
Continuously assess your backup infrastructure and data protection strategies. As the industry evolves, so should your approach to data backup and retention.
The Future of Backup Consolidation
As we look ahead, it’s likely that consolidation in the backup industry will continue. Organizations must stay informed about these trends and their potential impacts on data protection strategies.
By understanding the dangers of consolidating backup systems and taking proactive steps to address them, organizations can navigate this changing landscape more effectively. The key is to balance the benefits of new, consolidated solutions with the need to manage legacy data securely and cost-effectively.
Remember, your backup strategy is only as strong as its weakest link. Don’t let legacy systems become that weak link in your data protection chain.
Written by W. Curtis Preston (@wcpreston), four-time O'Reilly author, and host of The Backup Wrap-up podcast. I am now the Technology Evangelist at S2|DATA, which helps companies manage their legacy data