Asigra’s Data Protection Forecast for 2018

This article was published on January 17, 2018 by Eran Farajun, EVP, Asigra, Inc.

Cloud Backup Expert Tips: Asigra’s Data Protection Forecast for 2018

In what Deloitte has called the ‘Symphonic Enterprise,’ 2018 will be marked by the convergence of many new disruptive technologies and trends.

Organizations adopting new systems, solutions, and services will be challenged with their orchestration to ensure a more harmonious IT infrastructure. Data protection has not been sheltered from accelerated technological evolution which has been driven by IT trends such as cloud computing, new regulatory requirements and a rise in malware that targets both primary and secondary data. Based on input from hundreds of IT services companies as well as industry experts and analysts, below are predictions for 2018 expected to create both challenges and opportunities for enterprise IT professionals.

Ransomware and the Targeting of Data Recovery Systems
The rise of ransomware and its awareness among organizations and individuals has IT administrators re-thinking their approach to dealing with attacks. The most common response to a ransomware infiltration is to reload the inaccessible files from the backup set. However, the criminal elements behind such malware are becoming aware of the corporate remedies impacting their ransomware-powered revenues. While the primary recovery strategy for ransomware had been to conduct a recovery of the encrypted files from the backup or DR repository, more recent attacks have targeted backup systems as well. In some cases, disk-based backups were stored on the network, making them easy targets for the malware. In all recent ransomware attacks, including Bad Rabbit, the ransomware actively targeted backup data and attempted to delete or encrypt the backup sets. In 2018, backup and recovery will enter a new era as an increasing number of data protection vendors integrate advanced cybersecurity solutions into their software in an effort to protect important backup files from the claws of ransomware. These new technologies will enhance the positioning of backup solutions as organizations place greater reliance on them in the defense of such attacks.

Greater Market Share for Converged Data Protection Over Traditional Solutions
Unlike hyper-converged infrastructure and the leveraging of a hypervisor, vendors offering converged data protection integrate data recovery software solutions capable of addressing a wider variety of information recovery tasks. The rising demand for converged data protection by organizations is driven in part by the consolidation of data recovery capabilities into a single, highly scalable hybrid platform and the increased efficiencies that come with a single universal solution. Businesses that move toward a converged data protection strategy value these solutions as they provide layers of protection in the form of backup, DR, data enablement and archiving. Furthermore, the centralization of these solutions reduce overall IT costs for organization. This trend is expected to continue in 2018 and beyond.

Customer Demand for Public Cloud Data Recovery Services
According to Gartner, businesses are increasingly turning to infrastructure as a service (IaaS) to meet their IT requirements. This includes everything from migrating existing applications to moving entire data centers to cloud IaaS. Recent research indicates that more than 80% of CIOs will be influenced by business management to evaluate migrating their data centers to the cloud by the end of 2017. While most IaaS providers offer excellent data resiliency, most do not offer native backup and specify in their agreements that it is the responsibility of the customer for ensuring the recovery of information stored on their cloud infrastructure. With the rise in adoption of the cloud there will be a corresponding increase for services that complement cloud-based IT infrastructure and this includes comprehensive data recovery capabilities that ensure BC.

Regulatory Challenges Go Mainstream in 2018
The amplified role that regulatory compliance is having on IT operations will become front and center in 2018. Historically, regulations such as the New York Department of Financial Services (DFS) Cybersecurity Regulatory Compliance Requirements have been applied to specific industries such as financial services providers. Now, with information and technology being ingrained into everyone’s personal lives (Facebook, Google, Netflix, Amazon, etc.) the regulations have transcended specific industries and are now mainstream. Citizens expect information about their online behaviors and habits to be treated in a certain manner. In 2018, the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and other privacy regulations will increasingly drive change in IT operations, especially data protection. These new regulations have caught the attention of businesses because of the very significant financial consequences of non-compliance. Going forward, regulation-driven policies will have a significant impact on how IT systems are selected and deployed, requiring administrators to re-think their data protection strategy in ways that adhere to such regulations.

Because of these emerging challenges, collaboration with an organization’s trusted IT services advisor is a first step in the planning and coordination of how to best implement new solutions and strategies. Having the right specialists on call to continually search for ways to enhance productivity, reliability, business agility, and regulatory compliance will provide the edge that organizations require to lead their organizations successfully.