Backup Copy of Data

Email is mission critical, which means maintaining backup copies of messages and attachments is essential to protect against permanent data loss. Furthermore, having quick-and-easy access to that valuable stored data is also imperative.

Many organizations are turning to cloud-based archiving solutions to help capture and retain a copy of all messages as they are sent and received. The data is securely stored in a searchable archive, which is geographically dispersed from existing data center(s) or hosting facility(ies). In the event of a local system failure, fire or natural disaster, this protective measure ensures there is still a copy of the data in a separate and secure location.

This vital protection doesn’t just affect organizations that host their own email on premise. Companies that are thinking of moving their email to the cloud, with services such as Microsoft Office 365 and Google Apps, also have concerns over data loss protection. What happens if a cloud email provider loses data? Most providers don’t keep a rich history of message data once it is deleted. Fortunately the right archiving solution can capture cloud-based email from a variety of different platforms and store all of it in a central repository that is fully searchable and completely independent of the primary email system. In fact, some archiving systems can also capture content types beyond email, such as instant messages, and communications from social media websites, like LinkedIn and Facebook.

The bottom line is that a cloud-based archiving solution can serve as the best insurance policy against data loss. It is a great way to help companies reduce the common risk factors associated with moving applications, such as email, to the cloud. Implementing an archive as a backup solution gives IT, records management and legal departments greater confidence in the cloud, because it preserves copies of all messages and makes them available anytime (without having to restore tape backups). In addition, an archiving solution can help companies move from one cloud provider to the next, since it enables them to take all of their archived content with them to the next vendor.