Guarding Your Digital Assets: The Vital Role of Protecting SaaS Application Data

In today’s ever-evolving work landscape, the way we collaborate and handle data has transformed dramatically. Gone are the days of meetings confined to conference rooms; now, our collaboration happens within the realm of cloud-based applications. Notably, platforms like Microsoft 365 have revolutionized our work processes, with tools like Microsoft Teams and Zoom-like apps becoming indispensable for meetings and fostering collaboration among teams.

The Surge in Cloud Services Adoption

Gartner’s forecast of a 22% increase in spending on cloud services from 2021 to 2022 underscores the growing reliance on cloud-based apps and services among businesses. This surge brings to the forefront the critical need for safeguarding SaaS-delivered data, an ultimate responsibility that lies with the customer.

Pieces to the SaaS Data Protection Puzzle

In the realm of public cloud computing, the shared responsibility model clearly delineates the roles of cloud providers and customers. While cloud providers manage infrastructure and offer protection for hardware, software, networking, and cloud facilities, customers are entrusted with safeguarding and recovering their enterprise data. It’s important to note that while cloud providers may offer data recovery options, these often come with limited or no guarantees.

Understanding this distinction is paramount, especially when considering that a staggering 70% of companies experienced data breaches involving cloud-hosted data in 2020. The mere presence of data in the cloud doesn’t ensure its safety and protection. Additionally, many SaaS application providers offer data retention options, but these should not be confused with comprehensive backups. For instance, primary Customer Relationship Services (CRM) providers like Salesforce and Microsoft 365 provide policy-based data retention, but this doesn’t guarantee the recovery Service Level Agreements (SLAs) your business requires. Each SaaS application handles data retention, backup, and recovery differently, making it imperative to review their offerings carefully.

The Benefits of Third-Party Protection

Referencing the Forrester Now Tech: SaaS Application Data Protection report, there are several crucial advantages to efficient business operations when opting for third-party data protection solutions. These include:

• Recovery Service Levels (SLAs): Depending solely on built-in backup or retention options may not guarantee the enterprise-level recovery SLAs your business needs.
• Extended Data Storage: Third-party protection becomes essential for organizations requiring prolonged data retention and legal compliance.
• Unified Policy Management: Managing consistent policies and overseeing SLAs across multiple SaaS applications becomes increasingly important as these applications proliferate across the enterprise.

Avoid Adding Data Silos and Complexity

While many specialized vendors offer solutions to safeguard SaaS app data, this approach can create isolated data sets and add complexity by necessitating additional interfaces and consoles for IT Operations teams. A more efficient system is for customers to seek a solution that streamlines data management across all sources, be it on-premises, in the cloud, or within SaaS applications like Salesforce and Microsoft 365. This unified solution simplifies administration with a single interface.

We advocate for safeguarding SaaS applications and diverse enterprise sources using a unified platform for comprehensive protection. This approach empowers organizations to handle data efficiently and prioritize generating business value.

Essential Features for Data Protection

When considering data protection in hybrid, multicloud, and SaaS settings, here are some essential features to seek:

• Swift Recovery: The ability to speed up recovery through almost instant mass restoration, whether on-premises or across multi-cloud environments, using pristine backup data.
• Privacy Compliance Focus: An emphasis on visibility, compliance, and safeguarding of personally identifiable information (PII) throughout the organization, all managed through a unified data management solution.
• Assured Data Resilience: Strengthening business continuity by protecting against internal and external threats with 24/7 protection.
• A Comprehensive Data Management Solution: A single offering that consolidates capabilities for hybrid, multi-cloud, and SaaS data sources into one.
• Ransomware Detection Using AI/ML: Enhancing resilience by quickly detecting ransomware attacks on IT production environments through advanced anomaly detection powered by artificial intelligence and machine learning, minimizing downtime.
• Minimize Vulnerability: Reducing potential entry points by consolidating data and infrastructure into a unified multi-cloud data platform.
• Immutable Backups: Enhancing backup security by implementing an unchangeable file system (DataLock or WORM), multi-factor authentication, data encryption, and RBAC protection layers, thwarting external system intrusion attempts.

Contemporary Data Demands Require Modern Data Management

We stress the importance of a cutting-edge data management solution to safeguard contemporary workloads and SaaS applications. This solution should effectively address the demands of modern digital businesses, manage escalating data volumes, and alleviate the burden on IT Operations while enhancing business value.

One-off solutions are inadequate, and standard tools often lack adaptability and scalability. What’s needed is a straightforward, secure, and intelligent approach to data protection across a multi-cloud environment, requiring minimal effort from IT while also providing a competitive edge by unlocking value.

Cohesity’s Advanced Data Management Solution

Cohesity offers an advanced data management solution that comprehensively safeguards SaaS workloads, including Microsoft Office 365, Salesforce, SAP HANA, and other application data sources. This integration streamlines operations by removing operational silos and negating the necessity for multiple solutions. Unlike the constraints of native tools from SaaS providers, Cohesity enhances data protection by adding encryption, immutability, and enhanced security features, ensuring data remains safe while unlocking its value for customers. Explore further for deeper insights into how Cohesity is revolutionizing data management for SaaS applications.