Moving From Local Backup To An Offsite MSP Backup 2024

Onsite backups at one point were about the only option for I.T outsourcing services to provide backup coverage to their clients.

It was our best effort and we had to trust designated client staff to take removable USB drives or tape offsite each night. Gradually services started to creep in where outsourced companies would take on the responsibility of taking the backup media offsite each night.

I never considered it a very reliable system but back in the 90s it was all we had. I will be discussing the need to move your clients' backups to the cloud.

I strongly believe this is not an either or situation, competent service providers should only be offering backup solutions that include both an on-site backup and off-site backup component in this day and age.

While you are here, Take a look at some of our other content about backups below that may interest you:

As a secondary goal of the main topic, I will also discuss how documentation can help IT consulting services manage and maintain projects such as a local backup migration project discussed in this article.

Technical publications are also an essential aspect of the IT industry whether it be storage solutions discussed here or the steps involved documenting the handling of non agreement clients. An effective record keeping routine enables IT consulting advisors to manage and maintain the IT infrastructure of their clients far more effectively. 

Reasons To Consider Online 

“Are Cloud backups the best”, is something I hear quite often. It is not that simple. A service provider should be combining an online component to their existing backup offerings.

Perhaps you have just started an MSP and the options have become overwhelming, maybe you have some clients that came to you when they were small and the solution of a removable USB drive was working but you are seeing all of the angles where that could fail and want to supply a more robust backup plan.

These are a couple of likely many reasons. If you are serious about offering a great backup service to your clients then I believe you need to trim the fat and no I do not mean getting rid of the fat people. Get rid of any backup plan that you do not stand behind.

Achilles Heal Of Service Provider Backup Plans

Offering 32 different tiers of backup plans can be tempting. It means you have a much larger net to catch potential clients that want to spend the minimum and also the clients that understand the value of a premium backup solution.

Don’t do it, just think of what Chef Ramsay would say as you show him your comically long menu. Spend time investigating the best backup plan that you can for your clients and offer only one set of features.

It is very important when moving from a local to onsite backup strategy that you take the time to evaluate what you offer that currently works and what you should discard.

The main problem with offering too many choices when it comes to backups is that it is easy to forget who is on what plan. 

I hope we all understand that when we put two backup plans side by side with one being half the price, that going for the cheap backup plan means that as a provider you have accepted that in certain circumstances, your client is not covered and they will lose their company data in a larger number of possible scenarios than the expensive one.

Do your best to relay this to the client and ideally obtain a signature detailing what is offered to protect yourself. While that may protect you from the courts, it is not going to protect the client relationship. 

There is only one thing more infuriating for a client than their technology partner being unable to recover valuable data and that is being unable to recover the data and proving without a doubt that it is their own fault they are in that situation. You are going to lose the client and that is why I recommend only offering the best backup solution you possibly can.

Before looking at the best cloud backup solutions, lets commit to offering only one backup plan that includes both a local recovery component and a hosted recovery component. You will sleep easier and be more confident in the offerings you provide.

Available Offsite Backup Solutions

There really is such a huge number of companies offering service providers their version of offsite backup solutions. I have had personal experience with a number of these and trust me just because it is a big well known organization, it does not mean their offering is any good.

I remember back when I had spent around 80K on Kaseya VSA licenses and part of that was I decided to purchase about $7000 worth of Kaseya endpoint security licenses. I did not investigate because they were a large company and their VSA was a reasonable product.

Well I got that wrong, 7K and they never worked or should I say, they caused so many issues with client machines that my organization's reputation was actually impacted by it. Ultimately I deserved it because I had not tested them prior to committing. Kaseya’s response was to admit it was a terrible product and offer a 10% discount if I purchased the new ESET version that reportedly fixed the problems.

It was a big lesson in my habit of trusting providers just because they are well known and large. 

So while I have had experience with the cloud backup solutions below, do not take my word for it and it is your responsibility to fully test the potential solution you would like to offer your clients. That action will separate you from many of the others out there that see themselves as service providers.

Acronis Cyber Appliance

Acronis cyber appliance is a popular offsite backup solution that offers Cyber Protect Backup. This solution includes:

• Reputed Poor Support: Be careful here. I have not used Acronis in a number of years and while I used to like the product, according to a pretty large cross section of customers, their support and response to product and billing issues has been poor.
• Integrated Backup and Cybersecurity: Cyber Protect Backup provides an all-in-one solution for backup and cybersecurity, protecting your data from cyber threats.
• AI-Powered Protection: Acronis uses AI-powered protection to detect and prevent cyber threats before they can cause harm.
• Flexible Deployment Options: Cyber Protect Backup can be deployed on-premises, in the cloud, or in a hybrid environment.

Cove Backup & Restore

Cove Backup & Restore is an offsite backup solution offered by N-able. This solution includes:

• N-Central Integration: Cove backup integrates with its parent companies offering. This is a bonus as I was pleasantly surprised at how competent N-Central is as an RMM.
• Flexible Backup Options: Cove Backup & Restore offers multiple backup options, including full backups, incremental backups, and differential backups.
• Automated Backup: Cove Backup & Restore can automate your backups, ensuring that your data is always protected.
• Easy Recovery: With Cove Backup & Restore, you can easily recover your data with just a few clicks.

Veeam Cloud Data Protection

Veeam cloud data protection is a leading offsite backup solution that offers VMware ESX Backup. Veeam has its roots in local imaging solutions for virtual host backups and now offers a cloud component that is in my opinion class leading. It is a complex solution but worth the time and effort to become familiar with.This solution includes:

• Fast and Reliable Backups: Veeam offers fast and reliable backups, ensuring that your data is always protected.
• Appliance Integration: Either using a BYOD or BYOC (Bring your own cloud) Veeam allows integration with an onsite appliance sourced by you.
• Flexible Recovery Options: Veeam offers multiple recovery options, including file-level recovery, application-level recovery, and full VM recovery.
• Monitoring and Reporting: Veeam provides monitoring and reporting tools, allowing you to easily track the status of your backups.

Axcient

Axcient offsite backup solution offers BDR (Backup, Disaster Recovery, and Business Continuity) solutions. This solution includes:

• Atera Integration: Axcient provides a 3rd party integration plugin for those providers that use Atera. Atera is another RMM that I can speak quite highly of through experience.
• Appliance Integration: Either using a BYOD or BYOC (Bring your own cloud) Axcient allows integration with an onsite appliance sourced by you or provided by them.
• Automated Backup: Axcient can automate your backups, ensuring that your data is always protected.
• Flexible Recovery Options: Axcient offers multiple recovery options, including file-level recovery, bare-metal recovery, and virtualization.
• Easy Management: Axcient provides an easy-to-use management console, allowing you to easily manage your backups and recovery processes.

The Verdict

Moving from a local to offsite MSP backup offering is an important step to ensure the safety and security of their clients' data. As mentioned it is not an either or option as far as deciding if local backup solutions such as a Synology NAS are no longer needed, I believe you need both for an effective recovery strategy.

Offsite backup solutions however offer a range of benefits that augment an existing physical backup solution, including better protection against disasters, enhanced data security, and the ability to quickly restore small amounts of data in the event of a disaster. 

Furthermore, using existing offerings from some of the leading vendors can help ensure that your backups are being stored and managed effectively but you need to ensure you investigate and test the claims they make as well as explore the voracity and number of current client complaints regarding any solution you look into.

Conclusion

Offering a reliable backup and recovery solution is complex especially once you start considering online backup solutions. 

While it is possible to eliminate all local backup components from your backup offering, I think we can all agree that it would mean compromising the quality and reliability of your offering in the quest to offer something cheaper.

Adding an offsite backup component to your existing disaster recovery plans is the way to go. Yes the extra cost will turn some potential clients away however it's probably for the best. Stick with the best backup and recovery solution you can design and the ones that do not appreciate that, hand them the business card of your competition.

We hope this article has provided you with a solid foundation and understanding of this topic.

We have a number of other backup strategy articles listed below that will provide you with more detailed information on a number of related topics:

https://optimizeddocs.com/blogs/backups/backup-strategies-index

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