Q&A With Saaher Muzafer, MD, UK Backup Everything

The term cloud has been around for a long time however the core of what it means is the protection of data and systems if in the event something goes wrong, any user or business can recover their information without losing any downtime, in simple terms everyone should have some form of cloud backup in place.

When the opportunity arose to find out how Backup Everything Ltd have grown over the past 2-3 years and hear about their success story. Here is a Q&A with Saaher Muzafer, MD, Backup Everything.

1) What is the history of the company and its background?
The name Backup Everything really comes from the industry where I’m sure most cloud backup vendors tell their customers you should Backup Everything, therefore as this name was used frequently it made sense to make it the business name.

2) Can you describe the last 5 years since inception?
Years 1 and 2 nothing happened, the business was finding its feet but even at these times it was laying a solid foundation for the future. Years 3-5 have taken off considerably and we are now humbled to be recognized for our achievements.

3) How much data do you backup, locations and numbers of customers are there currently?
At the moment we have over 500TB stored, in 3 locations across the world. Predominantly UK, but also Dublin and USA. Customer wise, over 1,500 and they are in Europe, USA, South America, Middle East and parts of Asia, but it is growing organically day by day.

4) Are you focused on end users or channel?
Both, we protect our resellers and mention to them to offer their pricing the same as we do to direct customers. That way we are all on the same page and no one can say we are manipulating margins, in fact we tell our end customers the wholesale pricing so they can understand buying in bulk like how resellers do means we can give lower pricing.

5) What’s your secret to success?
Only 2 simple reasons, 1) low margins – we add in most cases only 5% on top to our costs prices therefore give the maximum savings back to the customer and 2) we don’t sell anything – ours is all about educating the customer about cloud backup and the rest is up to them to decide. We are not pushy sales people and don’t chase after incoming leads come into the business, we have a 3 time contact policy in regards to this.

6) Isn’t the market being consolidated via acquisitions?
Yes it is in some places, but as owners you have to be careful. Some companies just want the numbers on an excel spreadsheet when they buy someone, only later to see the brand being destroyed by customer churn because the acquirer has done such a poor job in the onboarding process. You also have to think about your staff, it is not fair on them just so that an owner can have a big payoff.

7) What has been the main highlight for the business?
Without a doubt, the recommendation by PC PRO and IT PRO plus other independent publications for our cloud backup solutions. It was great to see the review and the endorsement they gave us which naturally gave confidence for customers to come on board.

8) Are there any main challenges you face day to day?
The problem in the market is that there isn’t a one solution that fits all; you have to have different backup solutions that cater for a variety of customers. A lot of information on company websites is just marketing rather than trying to solve customer’s pain points. Also there is a clear difference between cloud storage and cloud backup, people still think the likes of Google Drive and Dropbox are backup solutions, they are not and the differences need to be understood which is where we try and educate customers on this.

9) You call yourself Backup Everything but can you really do that?
Yes we can, from Windows PC, to server applications, virtual environments to Office 365 and other cloud to cloud applications, we can back them up and have dedicated solutions for them.

10) What’s on the roadmap for Backup Everything?
The major development coming this year is the launch of our BE Cloud Archive solution which will be an alternative to the likes of Google Drive, Dropbox and more. We are looking forward to getting this into the market as it’s our own in-house developed solution. Primarily this will be geared for the emerging markets such as India, South America, Asia and Middle East but still be open to all.