Creating Hybrid Multicloud Data Protection Order Out of Chaos

If one thing is clear from the 2022 Global Data Protection Index (GDPI) research, it is that organizations of all sizes are looking for more modern, simpler ways to protect and secure their data and enhance their cyber resiliency.

Multicloud sprawl and the lack of visibility into distributed public cloud data, a shortfall in IT skillsets and the growing threat of cyberattacks is driving demand for more flexible solutions to address an increasingly complex hybrid, multicloud data protection and cyber security landscape.

GDPI research reports double-digit increases in public cloud IaaS and PaaS consumption, with 72% of IT planners stating they are unable to locate and protect distributed data resulting from DevOps and cloud development processes, while 76% report a lack of common data protection solutions for newer technologies like containers, cloud-native apps and edge technologies. Not surprisingly, 67% of respondents indicated they lacked confidence in their ability to protect all the data across their public cloud environment. These IT “blind spots” can result in critical data loss and key digital initiatives being delayed.

Another concerning issue is the lack of IT expertise and staff that organizations point to when citing their top reasons for interest in backup and cyber recovery “as-a-Service” solutions. Increased complexity combined with a lack of IT resources means overburdened IT teams may have little time to help the business innovate if they’re too busy fighting fires.

Finally, consider that nearly one in two organizations reported experiencing a cyberattack in the last 12 months that prevented access to data. While most cyberattacks were external security breaches (e.g., phishing attacks, compromised user credentials, etc.), insider attacks also significantly increased – up 44% from last year. As a result, 67% of organizations stated they are concerned their data protection measures may not be sufficient to cope with malware and ransomware threats.

To address the systemic risks involved with pervasive cyber threats and internal breaches, many organizations are embracing the architectural concepts of a Zero Trust security framework. The challenge is that while many are planning to implement Zero Trust design principles into their environment, few have fully deployed a Zero Trust architecture (12%).

This begs the question as to how most organizations are planning to cope with the increased complexity and risk of protecting and securing distributed data in the interim. Many in the survey expressed strong interest in more automated solutions for helping them manage their critical data. For example, two of the top three “as-a-Service” solutions identified by the respondents were Cyber Recovery-as-a-Service (41%) and Backup-as-a-Service (40%). Some of the reasons for adopting these as-a-Service offerings include a lack of expertise (53%) and not enough staff to maintain these services (42%).

While public cloud and as-a-Service solutions will likely comprise an increasing percentage of organizations’ IT footprint going forward, over one-third of organizations still identify private cloud infrastructure as their preferred way to manage and deploy business applications. In this hybrid multicloud operating paradigm, organizations identified multi-workload data protection and intrinsic cybersecurity as key data management capabilities.

Another way organizations are looking to simplify data protection operations is to reduce the number of vendors with which they are working. Many believe (85%) they would see a benefit through vendor consolidation, and the research tends to support this sentiment. For example, those using a single data protection vendor had far fewer incidents of data loss than those using multiple vendors. Likewise, the cost of data loss incidents resulting from a cyberattack was approximately 34% higher for those organizations working with multiple data protection vendors than those using a single vendor.

Perhaps the key takeaway from the 2022 GDPI research is the pressing need for organizations to simplify and modernize how they manage, protect and secure their critical data assets and workloads wherever they reside. With IT skillsets in short supply, data continuing its inexorable growth and myriad cyber threats cascading across the digital landscape, IT planners need innovative solutions that deliver the simplicity, automation and flexibility to keep up with business demands as they change over time.

Dell cyber resilient multicloud data protection solutions give our customers the choice, flexibility and efficiency to protect any workload in any cloud with innovative technologies that are modern, simple and secure. It is our mission to help you stay ahead of the data protection curve so you have the confidence to spend less time on data protection infrastructure and more time developing innovative services to delight your customers.

Source: dell.com