Data Protection Expert Christophe Bertrand Shares What MSPs Need To Know About Their SaaS Data
The pandemic completely transformed the IT environment for SMBs , and one of the most dramatic changes was the concerted push to SaaS platforms like Microsoft 365 and Google Workspace . While these solutions allow for increased collaboration in a remote work environment , there are significant misconceptions and challenges surrounding the protection of the data in these applications .
Christophe Bertrand is the resident data protection expert at the renowned analyst firm Enterprise Strategy Group ( ESG ) and has more than 25 years of experience helping organizations navigate data protection challenges . Here are three things he feels MSPs need to know about SaaS data protection in order to effectively safeguard their customers ’ data and increase their own profitability .
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SaaS Providers Are Not Responsible For Your Data .
Though the misconception that SaaS providers are responsible for data protection has been debunked by countless experts , many IT professionals still mistakenly believe they do not need to proactively back up their SaaS data . When ESG conducted its 2021 Data Protection Cloud Strategies research , Bertrand was surprised by the number of individuals who still believed that the SaaS platform would fully protect their data .
“ What we found in 2019 was that there was a big disconnect — 37 % of respondents said the SaaS vendor was responsible for their data ,” Bertrand said . “ This year , I expected this to go down significantly , but we still found that 35 % of respondents said their SaaS vendor was responsible for their data . Market education is still needed .”
MSPs need to understand the importance of protecting both their clients ’ and their own SaaS data using a third-party vendor , especially for key applications like Microsoft 365 and Google Workspace .
MSPs Have Opportunities In SaaS Data Protection — If They Properly Educate Their Customers .
“ We found in our 2020 research that 32 % of mission-critical data is in SaaS-based applications ,” Bertrand said . “ If almost a third of a client ’ s most crucial apps are SaaS-based , and the client doesn ’ t understand the service level agreements ( SLAs ) and thinks backups happen automatically , there is a real potential for disaster .”