How to Prevent Data Loss in Cloud-based and SaaS Applications

As businesses increasingly rely on cloud-based and SaaS applications, preventing data loss becomes increasingly important.

However, many organisations don’t understand how data loss can occur or how to prevent it. There are many reasons why data loss occurs in cloud-based and SaaS applications. In order to prevent data loss, it is important to understand the causes and take steps to prevent them.

In this article, we’ll cover the basics of data loss prevention in cloud-based and SaaS applications and provide some tips to help you protect your data.

What is Data Loss?

In simple terms, data loss is when you cannot find the data that you have stored on your web host or online service. It’s a fact that, no matter how stable your web hosting and cloud computing services are, you will face catastrophic data loss one day or another.

The point is that data loss can happen even to the best-hosted services and the most stable providers. It’s just a fact that data can get lost, and a business has no way of knowing how or when it will happen.

Why Data Stored in a Cloud May Be Problematic?

As much as cloud computing has brought flexibility and speed to data processing and storage, it’s also brought challenges for businesses. For the same reasons that on-premises systems are subject to attacks and data breaches, cloud-based data is prone to security concerns and risks. A number of these concerns are common for data stored in a cloud-based environment.

Data stored in a cloud can be problematic for several reasons:
1. Security Risks: Storing data in the cloud puts it at risk of being accessed or compromised by hackers. Cloud providers have security measures in place, but they are not foolproof.

2. Data breaches: If a cloud provider’s security measures are insufficient or if there is a flaw in their system, unauthorized individuals may gain access to the stored data, resulting in a data breach.

3. Privacy concerns: When data is stored in the cloud, there is always a risk that the privacy of that data may be violated. Cloud providers typically have access to user data and may use it for purposes other than storage without explicit consent.

4. Service interruptions: If there are technical issues or outages with the cloud provider’s infrastructure, users may experience service interruptions that prevent access to their data when they need it most.

5. Legal and regulatory compliance: Depending on the nature of the data being stored, certain legal or regulatory requirements may need to be met. It is important to ensure that the chosen cloud provider offers appropriate compliance measures.

6. Dependency on Internet connectivity: Accessing and managing data stored in the cloud requires an Internet connection. In areas with limited or unreliable connectivity, accessing cloud-stored data may be challenging or impossible.

7. Cost considerations: While using cloud storage can often be cost-effective initially, as storage needs grow over time, costs can increase significantly. It is essential to evaluate pricing structures carefully and consider long-term costs before committing to storing large amounts of data in the cloud.

How Cloud Vendors Protect Data?

As part of their offers, cloud services and SaaS application providers usually back up a company’s data. They can’t, however, stop every case of data loss. Managed service providers must discover the keys to preventing cloud data loss to become the go-to experts in cloud data security.

According to Aberdeen Group’s findings, one in every three SaaS companies suffers a data loss. Downtime from power outages, application failures, and natural calamities may all be mitigated by SaaS application providers. However, dealing with human error events is not always simple for them. As a result, companies must have a backup and recovery system in place to safeguard themselves.

Benefits of a Cloud-to-Cloud Backup

When selling cloud services or SaaS apps, MSPs must consider the risk of data loss. Built-in data safeguards don’t cover all circumstances in which losing data is feasible. The aim is to educate end customers about safe cloud usage and provide them with appealing alternatives for dependable service.

Apps like Salesforce.com and Office 365 may benefit from a cloud backup and disaster recovery solution, including Google Apps. Backup services for popular services are often overlooked by their consumers. However, considering all the extra advantages, it’s not a difficult sell. MSPs may alleviate your worries by:

• Backing up all data from SaaS applications and freeing up end users from allocating storage space for backed-up files;
  
• Setting up backups to happen automatically, so users don’t have to do it;
  Free up users from applying software updates and security patches for the backup solution;
  
• Save data for unlimited amounts of time and make it available for recovery whenever needed;
  
• Regularly test recovery capability to minimize interruptions that hurt productivity;
  
• Help with instant file recovery on data loss incidents.

Regulatory Compliance

Data loss prevention is one of the primary objectives of cloud backup systems, but they can assist organisations with regulatory compliance. Strict laws apply to any company that deals with sensitive personal data, such as credit card numbers or medical records.

As a result, preventing data loss isn’t simply something companies should be doing. It’s a must-have for the majority of people. Even if a corporation suffers a loss through no fault, regulatory action may nevertheless be taken against it. And the penalties for breaking the law are usually severe.

Another compelling incentive for consumers to seek cloud-to-cloud data protection solutions is regulatory compliance, which MSPs can provide. As an MSP, providing this service gives your clients, who rely on you to maintain secure and functional IT environments, a much-needed value-add.