Best Cloud Practices | Sustainable Cloud Business Practices

The Positive Impact of Cloud Backup on Sustainable Business Practices

Sustainability has gone from a trendy buzz word to nonnegotiable business strategy as the effects of climate change start to mount.

With businesses finding new ways to work sustainably, the amount of data that every enterprise produces and stores must be reduced for the sake of the planet’s future.

Secure cloud storage has an important role to play in sustainability, because it allows organisations to free up storage space, and streamline the use of servers across the global IT industry. Here are some ways that cloud storage can contribute to efficiency and sustainability in any business.

Counting the climate cost of surplus data

The huge number of files that we all generate instantaneously can easily distract us from the fact that information is not only a virtual entity. Files also exist in physical space – be it on a storage medium or in the cloud.

Data requires electricity in order to be stored, and as our data requirements soar our energy bills are following suit.

Current estimates indicate that 1% of all electricity is used to process data. This figure is only likely to grow in the era of cryptocurrency trading and the widespread adoption of AI which uses a huge amount of data.
As we experience ongoing electricity supply problems related to Eskom, it’s easy to imagine how our global electricity supply would be constrained if unnecessary data continues to be produced and stored at the current rate.

Secure cloud storage is an effective way to free up extra storage and ensure that essential files are kept safe. At Soteria we use energy efficient data centers, eliminating the need for our clients to invest in less energy efficient computers and small servers.

Traditional storage methods represent major climate risks

With billions of internet users around the world, businesses and private individuals in almost every country have become consumers of computers, electronics and storage devices.

This is placing huge pressure on natural resources and is creating a pollution problem as recycling efforts fail to keep up with the mountain of hard drives, flash drives and other physical storage that are piling up in dumps around the world. To make matters worse , some of these discarded devices – like old routers – can pose a major security risk if they fall into the wrong hands.

Cloud storage can help to eliminate this wasteful and environmentally polluting practice by ensuring that fewer small storage devices need to be produced on an annual basis.

Localisation favours regions with sustainable energy

As businesses become more discerning about the electricity usage practices of their suppliers and choose partners who value sustainability, sustainable cloud backup services located in areas known for sustainable energy will enjoy the upper hand.

This should put some friendly pressure on data centres and other tech providers to invest in solar technology and other sustainable forms of energy generation at their facilities.

Final thoughts

Overall, secure cloud storage has the potential to support the push towards sustainability that has become so popular in the business world and is crucial for the planet’s future.

If you’d like to move away from traditional hardware and embrace a planet-friendly, economical, and safe backup storage solution, browse our range of packages for sustainable cloud businesses of all sizes today.

Best Cloud Practices – Cloud Backup Implementation

Maximising Efficiency: IT Tips for Cloud Backup Implementation

Cybercriminals continue to attack SA businesses relentlessly, and one of the best safety measures you can take against the current wave of ransomware attacks is a regular secure backup.

A backup is something that should happen automatically, and maybe for that reason we tend to forget how important they are. That is, until something goes wrong and essential files are lost or a working copy can’t be secured in the wake of a cyberattack.

Fortunately, secure cloud storage works seamlessly with backup best practices to keep your data safe and encrypted.

Here are some ways you can integrate your cloud storage with your backup planning for maximum efficiency and peace of mind.

Analysing backup reports to fill gaps with cloud storage

Whenever you receive a backup report, it’s not enough to simply glance over it and ensure that nothing is highlighted in red.

Taking a careful look at your total file population and the frequency of your backups will help you identify gaps in your security that secure cloud storage can easily fill.

Frequency of backups

If your business processes a small amount of data, a weekly backup may be sufficient to secure a copy of your most recent files.

On the other hand, a data intensive business will need to schedule daily or even more frequent backups so that crucial information is not lost in the event of a hardware failure or cyberattack.

Maximising backups while minimising storage space

Regularly compressing backup files along with eliminating unneeded duplicate copies will help you to ensure that your files are secure in the cloud without using up your data storage package sooner than necessary.

It’s important to audit your backups in the cloud on a regular basis and ensure that duplicates are eliminated to free up space.

You’ll also want to compress duplicate copies of your backup files that are still needed. This could cut your backup cloud storage requirements by 20% or more.

Automate your backups and enjoy peace of mind

Automatic backups are a recipe for stress-free data management. As your files are saved automatically to the cloud, you and your IT team can focus on more important things as you target ambitious goals.

Soteria’s range of secure cloud storage solutions are ideal for keeping your backups safe and encrypted. Find the package that suits your business today and rest easy knowing that your data is protected against any eventuality.

Best Cloud Practices | Role of cloud backup

The Role of Cloud Backup in Modern IT Strategies

The modern tech landscape has shifted predominantly to risk mitigation over the past few years.

While IT consultants had spent the 1990s and 2000s trying to convince businesses to go online, the current era, especially during and after the pandemic, has exposed some of the many risks involved with being connected to the internet. Cybercrime and ransomware attacks are of major concern to businesses around the world as losses from these crimes exceed $700 billion annually.

As a tech forward South African business, you certainly can’t afford to miss out on the opportunities that the interconnected digital world has to offer. On the other hand, avoiding the risks that come with connectivity is absolutely essential. That’s where cloud storage comes in.

Let’s take a look at some of the benefits of storing your critical data in the cloud in the context of modern best practices in the tech sector.

Cloud backup for instant digital migration

The days when a single physical backup was enough to keep your data safe are long gone – but many businesses still rely on an external hard drive (or even a USB stick) to keep essential files safe.

The false sense of security of physical storage quickly evaporates when the unthinkable happens and a business becomes the victim of a cyber attack.
Unfortunately, with more than 40% of local businesses having been targeted by cybercriminals this type of crime is hardly unthinkable. In fact it’s becoming the norm.

Moving to cloud storage is not only quick and simple but also eliminates the risk of data corruption and theft associated with physical storage.

Cloud storage aligns with the 321 rule

The 321 rule is a gold standard in the IT industry where data backup is concerned.

Simply put, companies should have three copies of every file that they can’t afford to lose: two of these copies should be on different mediums and one should absolutely be in the cloud.

In the event of a data breach or cyberattack, there’s no telling what condition your physical files may be in even if the ransom is removed.
By contrast, the copy of your files kept safely encrypted in the cloud should remain uncorrupted, especially if you opt for immutable storage.

Cloud storage is scalable and accessible to all enterprises

One of the cornerstones of modern IT strategy is to extend access to digital services and data resilience to small and medium size businesses and not only large corporations and government departments. This ensures that the digital safe zone surrounding business data remains wide enough to keep businesses and their customers safe from cyberattacks.

One of the major benefits of secure cloud storage is that it’s accessible at competitive prices on a subscription system that gradually scales up as the data requirements of your business expand.

Soteria Cloud’s range of secure cloud storage packages are easy to integrate with your existing software and hardware setup, making them ideal for businesses of any size that are enhancing their IT strategy.

To secure your files without delay, browse or range of packages for businesses of all sizes.