5 Ways to Ensure Data Resiliency in Cloud Computing

The global cloud computing market is projected to more than double—from $546 billion to $1.2 trillion—between 2022 and 2027. That’s a nearly 18 percent CAGR. And Arcserve’s annual independent global research found that 82 percent of IT decision-makers expect an increase in hybrid cloud investments, and 70 percent expect an increase in multi-cloud investments. 

So, if you’re an IT leader, cloud computing probably plays an essential role in how you support your organization. That’s no wonder, given that hybrid cloud and multi-cloud infrastructures offer flexibility and agility by letting you mix and match cloud environments based on your needs. That can range from choosing a cloud environment based on performance optimization for different specific workloads to tapping into leading-edge and best-of-breed services, tools, and technologies that cloud providers offer.

Data Resiliency and the Shared Responsibility Model

The Arcserve global study also spotlighted a frequent misconception regarding who is responsible for your data, with 43 percent of IT decision-makers saying they believe cloud providers are responsible for data stored in public clouds. That’s unfortunate because TechTarget notes that the cloud customer is always responsible for securing their data and workloads under the shared responsibility model.

Meanwhile, a 2022 Sophos report found that those using the cloud for infrastructure as a service (IaaS) experienced a significant increase in cyberattacks in the prior year, with 56 percent experiencing an increase in the volume of attacks on their organization and 67 percent reporting that they had been hit by ransomware.

The numbers make it plain that you need to do more to ensure data resiliency in your cloud computing deployment. Here are five ways you can do so.

1. Keep Your Backup and Disaster Recovery Plan Up to Date

Preparation is crucial if your organization is going to survive any hit to your cloud data. Schedule reviews of your backup strategy and processes and your disaster recovery plan. You’ll find a step-by-step guide to creating a disaster recovery plan in this blog post. Once your plan is up to date, test it to ensure it will work when needed. And adhere to the 3-2-1-1 backup strategy. That includes keeping one backup in immutable storage, a write-once-read-many-times format that can’t be altered or deleted. 

A robust incident response plan also bolsters data resiliency. So, whether it be a security breach, a hardware failure, or some other unexpected event, you’ll have a process in place to quickly detect, respond to, and recover from any disruptions. 

2. Build Redundancy and High Availability Into Your Infrastructure 

Building data resilience in cloud environments demands redundancy. That goes back to the 3-2-1-1 rule, which is all about ensuring your data and applications are backed up in multiple locations—with one of those backups saved in immutable format. Hence, it’s always accessible, even if a hardware failure, natural disaster, or cyberattack strikes you. By distributing workloads and backups across multiple locations, you mitigate those risks, ensuring high availability. 

3. Strengthen Your Cybersecurity and Data Protection Defenses

Achieving data resilience can be simplified by combining cybersecurity and data protection into a single, integrated solution. That’s precisely what Arcserve Unified Data Protection (UDP) and Arcserve Cloud Hybrid deliver. These Arcserve solutions include Sophos Intercept X Advanced for Server, which protects your backup infrastructure by effectively neutralizing malware, exploits, and ransomware with AI-based endpoint protection. 

It's also essential to regularly assess your cybersecurity and data protection efforts to identify vulnerabilities and ensure you can combat the latest threats. Because cybercriminals are always looking for the most accessible entry points to hack into your systems, ensure all your software and hardware are patched as soon as updates are released.

4. Employ Monitoring and Analytics to Identify Threats, Anomalies, and Performance Problems

Consistent monitoring is essential for maintaining data resilience in highly available architectures. It’s worth investing in effective monitoring tools that give you insights into how your systems perform and inform you of security threats and potential anomalies. Here again, leveraging AI and machine learning can help you identify patterns and detect potential issues before they become big problems. And consistent monitoring ensures your IT team can quickly respond to any incident, reducing downtime and preventing data loss.

5. Talk to the Data Resiliency Experts

Most IT teams are kept busy today, just running operations smoothly and putting out fires. But, given the high probability that some cloud data disaster will hit your organization, no matter the cause, it’s worth talking to people who are laser-focused on delivering data resiliency to their customers. That’s precisely what Arcserve does. To talk to a data resiliency expert, contact us. 

And get expert IT guidance by choosing an Arcserve technology partner here. Or request a demo to find out how Arcserve solutions deliver data resiliency across your hybrid cloud, multi-cloud, private cloud, on-premises, and off-premises infrastructures.