By Modeen Malick, Principal Systems Engineer at Commvault

The world is moving inexorably toward digitalisation as digital innovation gives businesses the agility and the ability to scale and develop services at speed. The challenge is that as we become increasingly digital and more services move into or become native to the cloud, the more valuable our data is, and the more complex data management becomes. Data availability is critical, and effective data protection is essential given the rampant rise of ransomware. At the same time, organisations cannot afford to implement systems and processes that negatively impact the speed and performance of our infrastructure. Data protection must be agile, scalable, flexible and secure, with a proactive stance to cater for a technology world that is constantly undergoing evolution.

Compounding challenges

To handle the complexities of today’s world, organisations need a solution that enables them to store, protect, optimise and use data regardless of where it is located and stored, while allowing IT tasks to be automated so that data can work for the business. This is often challenging to achieve, however, for multiple reasons.

The constant growth and change of technology means that businesses frequently need to adopt new solutions that align with business needs. However, what often happens is that previous technologies are not retired, so more technology is needed to support the new solutions alongside the old. This leaves businesses with infrastructure, workloads, and data types that span multiple generations and a data footprint that is growing continuously.

Not only does this add complexity to data management, but it also increases risk and can make the environment unstable, making it even more difficult to handle the ever-present threat from ransomware and cyberattacks. These challenges are compounded by a skills shortage that becomes wider every time technology evolves – people simply cannot learn fast enough to deal with a multitude of point solutions that only solve a portion of business issues, as this leaves gaps that make the environment vulnerable and hinder growth.

Protecting it all

Whether an organisation is using Kubernetes or containers, cloud-native apps or on-premise solutions, the reality is that all solutions and their data need to be protected effectively and as efficiently as possible on the cloud journey. This includes managing application workloads, enhancing automation and leveraging simplified interfaces to reduce clutter, through open API (Application Programming Interface) architecture that enables the flexibility of choice in infrastructure, platform, compute and storage providers that today’s organisations need.

When it comes to selecting data management and data protection, organisations must ensure that their chosen solution supports critical capabilities for enterprise backup and recovery, with cloud-native protection that incorporates all the major hyperscalers and beyond. A Software as a Service (SaaS) data protection solution offers the benefits of the cloud, for the cloud, as well as for hybrid and on-premises workloads. In addition, it is essential to ensure any solution caters for the rapidly evolving cyberthreat landscape – a solution that incorporates fully integrated deception technology can help organisations mitigate the cost of ransomware by enabling a proactive, offense approach to the defence of data.

As ransomware and digital crime continue to trend in the wrong direction and the number of sophisticated hacks and costly breaches rises, it is more important than ever to be proactive and not passive when it comes to protecting an organisation’s most valuable asset. Businesses need to prioritise how they invest in, secure, and protect their crown jewels – their data, and adopt an intelligent approach that simplifies complexity.