Rahul Bhavsar, Director Cloud, META, Ingram Micro Cloud, elaborates on how the distributor can assist partners and customers in the cloud data protection business.
Regional and local mid to enterprise level customers are aware of the importance of data protection in general but their views differ by the definition of protection. The definition of data protection revolves around two aspects, from an IT point of view. They are:
Backup and Archive – This is about protecting the data by performing regular backups and archiving the data in the right intervals. This is one of the most practiced data protection techniques and almost every customer is aware of this. The challenge comes when protecting the data, which is sitting off-premise in the cloud. The same customer becomes relaxed and does not take it seriously because their reasoning is that its cloud vendors’ responsibility to protect or back up their data, which is a myth. I see many SaaS solutions purchase in the market through the channel, but I do not see the attached backup for cloud solutions moving along with it at the desired levels. This clearly tells me that both customers and channel partners are not giving enough importance to data protection on cloud.
Securing the data – This about how to protect the data by building the right security. Customers’ general attitude is that because they are backing up data regularly, they do not need to be concerned about security. Traditionally security is seen as securing the infrastructure and applications, but everyone has to understand that eventually it’s about data, which is getting attacked. Many regional customers are serious about it but when it comes to cloud the gap is still very high. Local enterprise customers are also in the same state. The general myth here is that if data is moved to cloud, its more secure as its vendors’ responsibility.
In order to leverage the prospects in this space, the tools and technology are very much available today for partners. However, the challenge is different here, partners should embrace this through education. The sales cycles are longer in this space and we understand that, but the benefits are also high where partners would never lose the trust of the customer. Ingram Micro can offer in-depth support to our partners to build and bridge the gaps in their business to drive the cloud data protection business.
The only way to stay ahead of the perpetrators is to be aware of the trends in the cyber security space, especially with cloud. It is also important that we are fully aware of the security solutions and practices around cloud, which widely varies from SaaS, PaaS to IaaS. Having the right solutions for the right type of cloud is very important as one solution may not be a good fit for all types of cloud workload. The best method is to practice a frequent cycle of discover, assess, fix and then rerun the cycle again. Ingram Micro has a dedicated team with emphasis on cyber security along with cloud. We are here to offer support and help to our partners and customers through our wide range of solutions and best practices.
