Is it time to change your backup system?

It’s likely your current backup solution has warts. In fact, very few people like their backup product. And when a charming sales engineer from Acme Backup highlights 10 new whiz-bang features on their recent demo, it’s tempting to make a switch. I get the itch – I’ve spent my career in data protection, so few folks get more excited about a seemingly good new backup product. But before you sign that purchase order and risk a resume-generating event, ask yourself if the shinier tech truly warrants disrupting your organization’s safety net and going through a messy platform change.

Why companies rip out backups

After advising many organizations on their backup migrations, I distilled the core drivers to these gems:

1. Performance: Backups/restores are too slow
2. Usability issues confuse admins
3. Fear of inadequate security
4. New workloads aren’t supported
5. Competitor FOMO
6. Total cost of ownership

Sometimes each of these reasons is valid enough on its own to warrant a change. But here’s the ugly truth: the first three nearly always have simpler fixes than a risky platform swap. Because swapping backup products is so risky, the reasons for a change need to be ironclad. Let’s take a closer look at those reasons.

It’s just not fast enough

I can’t tell you how many times I’ve fixed “slow backup software” with better configurations – cleaned up snapshots, reduced unneeded redundancy or scope, tweaked multiplexing or network settings. If you think shiny new products inherently perform faster, you might be surprised. External issues such as bad disk layouts, cluttered repositories, and overtaxed hardware will tank speed no matter what software you run.

So before you blame the platform, scrutinize your architecture with a pro. Calling support for performance tuning might seem old school, but it avoids sales team BS. Also consider professional services to really dig in and see what’s going on. If genuinely better software exists for your use case, benchmarks will reveal it, but don’t assume switching (by itself) will speed things up.

I hate this interface!

Bloated UIs and byzantine configuration choices plague our industry. But before migrating to a new product over a lousy user experience, have you considered whether you’re part of the problem? I know it’s not popular to say, but often the reason a product doesn’t work the way you want it to is that you’re trying to make it work like the last backup product you had. This is again a good reason to consult support and/or professional services to see if a configuration streamlined to the way this product works might make things better.

Also ask if there is a UI refresh on the horizon. If you don’t like the interface, chances are no one else does either, and the vendor has heard it before. Maybe you can even help design the new interface by giving feedback.

I’m terrified of ransomware

Here comes the fear, uncertainty and doubt. A company catches ransomware, and the backup solution catches part of the blame. Or you’re worried your backup product won’t be up to the task of protecting your data if the company is hacked.

Once again, talk to your vendor. Ask how they believe their product should be configured for maximum security. Trust me; they’ve been asked this a lot lately, which means they should have a good answer. Look for encryption, role-based access controls, a separate authentication system from your production system, immutability in your storage, and more. You can bulletproof just about any backup config, so even if a bad guy is camped in your CEO’s office, they’ll gain nothing from your backups! Get expert security design reviews before assuming new solutions inherently offer better protection than mature incumbents.

Have a security professional evaluate the security posture of your current product’s capabilities versus the one you are considering. If it truly improves your security posture that much, that may indeed be a real reason to change.

New workloads no backup can touch? Not for long

One of the most valid reasons for a new backup product is a new workload that your current product doesn’t support. It must be backed up, after all. And no platform supports every workload under the sun.

But do remember that gaps get filled! I remember some of my earlier books on backup when backup software couldn’t handle VMware’s VMDKs. Does your software lag on newer technologies like Kubernetes? Communicate your requirement to your vendor and see if they have plans to support it in the future. In the meantime, consider a specialty tool just for that product, rather than throwing out the baby with the bathwater.

Backup FOMO

The heart wants what the heart wants. When competitors flaunt speed benchmarks or slick UIs, jealousy creeps in. Who cares if your backups are secure, reliable, and meet compliance mandates if AcmeBackup looks prettier?!

Before chasing features, validate if they create differentiated value aligned to business priorities. Do these new features actually increase your security posture, make restoring after a ransomware attack more possible and faster, or something else just as concrete? If the current solution recovers data within SLAs and at the right level of granularity, then it’s possible these really cool features are just wants – not needs.

It’s cheaper

After security, cost is probably the most valid reason to switch backup products. Yes, you can configure just about any backup product to restore fast, be secure, and back up just about any platform. But if all that configuration makes the backup solution much more expensive than its competition, the long-term savings might be a reason to move off that product.

Just make sure you get TCO numbers from both sides of the equation. Ask your current vendor to calculate their TCO, and ask the potential new vendor to do the same. Compare notes and see how much savings you might be able to realize. If the number is significant, consider piloting the new solution to see if their TCO numbers are as good as they claim.

Migrating backup platforms; Slow your roll

Remember why you have backups in the first place – worst-case insurance so business continues through a disaster or ransomware attack. Changing foundational platforms supporting that preparedness therefore necessitates exceptional care.

Always walk before running. Slowly move off legacy systems while moving to modern replacements, rather than an abrupt “rip off the Band-Aid” change. And never fully decommission the old system until you’ve completely proven the new system. Your data deserves nothing less than paranoid rigor. Remember that just because you’re paranoid doesn’t mean no one is out to get you. You may need to make major changes to your backup system; just do them slowly and methodically, and only if you really need to make the change.