EXCLUSIVE: Expert tips for protecting your crucial data

As digital transformation continues its relentless march forward, almost every business is becoming reliant on information to function.

Veritas channel leader for the Pacific Region, Janet Docherty affirms that effective disaster recovery (DR) and timely access to relevant information is now critical to success.

"The digital business landscape is generating massive amounts of data - 44ZB by 2020, up 10 times from today," says Docherty. "And according to Veritas Databerg research, 52 percent of all information currently stored is 'dark' data, and the value is unknown. If left untamed, business data could potentially cost organisations around the world a cumulative $3.3 trillion to manage by 2020.

To put that into perspective, one ZB (zettabyte) equals one trillion gigabytes. Docherty says that data is now one of the most critical assets and the lifeblood of any organisation - while you can easily outsource your IT infrastructure, your real estate and even your workforce, your data is the one thing you always need to own and manage yourself.

"Your data must be available anywhere and anytime, properly protected, compliant with regulations, and seen as a business enabler rather than deadweight," Docherty says. "Veritas is dedicated to 360 enterprise data management – to empower our customers with the ability to transform their data into a strategic business asset.

Docherty says that starts with providing three core capabilities – Insight, Availability and Protection – applied across the entire IT landscape in a scalable, consistent and manageable manner, rather than in silos.

"Veritas has solutions to put customers' minds at ease and provide the assurance that their information is protected," Docherty says. "We are focused on enabling businesses to thrive in this new world of digital business where data is the digital currency – a critical asset that is exponentially growing in value.

According to Docherty, what makes Veritas unique is they understand that information and DR is critical to every organisation, not just the large enterprises. They have made significant updates to their new and improved Backup Exec16  for mid-market organisations that are seeking a more powerful, flexible and trusted data protection solution.

"Today, many organisations operate on a hybrid-cloud model - meaning they need access to data across both heterogeneous clouds and on-premises architectures," Docherty says. "Veritas provides infrastructure-agnostic protection of all data—reducing the complexity and risk of using multiple solutions and providing greater visibility and control of information.

While the new release helps businesses reduce the complexity and risk of using multiple solutions, providing greater visibility and control of information, administrators also benefit with expanded cloud support as well as simplified licencing and purchasing models for easier consumption.

"Veritas has solutions to put customers mind at ease and provide the assurance that their information is protected," Docherty says. "Our solutions are differentiated because they are built to support organisations across increasingly complex, heterogeneous environments, regardless whether the data lives on premise, off premise, in the public cloud or in the new OpenStack clouds.

Importantly, these solutions all leverage the Veritas NetBackup product family, extending its reach from backup and recovery for cloud, virtual and physical environments to become a foundational platform for unified data protection.

"Our software-driven, technology agnostic approach gives customers freedom to choose the architecture and hardware that makes the most sense for their business. We are focused on enabling businesses to thrive in this new world of digital business where data is the digital currency," Docherty concludes.