For years, IT professionals including security pros have grappled with the question of whether it’s better to go with multiple purpose-driven tools that each do a particular job well or a platform-based approach that offers a unified view and centralized control of the environment. In the face of ransomware threats that demand top-notch data protection across on-premises- and cloud-based infrastructure, it’s now clear that a tool that delivers a holistic view is simply a must.
That’s not to suggest there’s no role for purpose-driven tools; they are important for storing, managing, and protecting data. But without a holistic strategy to pull them together, they can add complexity that actually creates vulnerabilities and increases costs.
A “1,000 Band-Aids” problem
Adopting point solutions without a holistic strategy creates a “1,000 Band-Aids” problem where you may stop the bleeding in various areas but don’t really address the overarching problem, said Christopher Winter, Technical Marketing Engineer with Veritas.
Integrating all the point tools is a challenge, especially when they come from different vendors, making it difficult to achieve a holistic view of your data protection landscape. At the same time, IT is forced to learn how to deploy and manage each tool, which increases long-term operational costs.
Increased use of cloud-based resources only exacerbates the problem. Each comes with its own tools for governance and data protection, requiring more specialized skills that apply only to that single cloud platform.
What’s required is a data protection solution that can report on your entire production environment – on-premises and in the cloud – including all backup solutions. Veritas, for example, can collect data even from third-party tools and cross-reference them to find anomalies that may indicate a ransomware attempt in both primary data storage and backup environments. That means you can retain your investment in third-party tools while gaining the holistic view that is required for proper protection.
Complete control over data recovery
Data recovery is another area where simplicity is crucial to meeting your recovery time objectives (RTO) and recovery point objectives (RPO) for each application. Tools that force administrators to take numerous steps to initiate a restore can create an unacceptable risk of downtime.
A holistic tool will enable administrators to recover loads with just one or two clicks, if not automatically. They should also provide visibility into recovery options, enabling administrators to ensure they can meet their RTO/RPO goals.
Administrators need to be able to employ such recovery mechanisms at scale, whether across multiple dispersed data centers, in the cloud, or both. And, given that they can’t protect data if they don’t know it exists, administrators need a data protection solution that automates finding new data sources. That includes those associated with cloud-based services that business units deploy on their own, outside the auspices of IT – so-called “shadow IT” services.
“When we move toward self-healing and self-discovery, minimal human intervention is needed because data protection becomes largely automated,” Winter said. “And with tools that are intuitive, clear, and easy to use, you don’t have to be a database administrator to protect data.”
Learn more at https://www.veritas.com/ransomware