The Easy Side of Advanced Data Protection

When we hear that something is easy, we often think it means it’s childish, has reduced functionality, or requires a lot of training to make it easy. Learning a new language, flying an airplane, or creating a mobile app can all be easy tasks, for example, but only for those who spent a lot of time learning and practicing how to do it.

For a long time, data protection was in the same category. If you’ve been in the IT industry for more than ten years, then you’ve likely experienced the nightmare of rebuilding servers and restoring lost data. It was a difficult and time-consuming task, even for seasoned professionals... and that’s when backups were measured in megabytes and businesses could go for hours or even days without data.

Today, things are different. The volumes of data we rely on are growing astronomically, leaving no place for complicated, cumbersome backup solutions. Perhaps you can get by with your legacy backup solution for now. But what about next year when you need to protect twice as much data in the same amount of time?

Acronis’ R&D team put a lot of thought into how to simplify complex data protection tasks for the everyday user. The result is a new innovative hybrid cloud architecture and a product line that anyone can use.

Acronis Backup 12.5 is the latest example of how powerful technology can be presented via an easy-to-use interface, and we have five reasons why this development is important for your business.  

1. Easy setup. It only takes three clicks to install Acronis Backup 12.5, and then a few more clicks to configure your backup plans. Instead of exposing the user to dozens of setup screen and configuration options, Acronis’ software is intelligent enough to discover the environment and choose the best options automatically (although optional settings are still available for those who prefer to set things manually). The installation is easy — and in this case, easy actually means advanced and innovative.

The software is also easy to use. With just a few clicks you can add devices to your backup, select storage locations, and activate advanced features such as ransomware protection. If you don’t have your own storage, you can open a cloud account with Acronis in just a few clicks and store your data there. The interface is touch-friendly, so you can even log in remotely from a mobile device to manage your backups.

With legacy backup solutions, adding new devices can be difficult, which increases the risk of new devices remaining unprotected. With the three-click backup from Acronis, setting up new backups is a breeze, which frees up time, increases productivity, and reduces the margin for error.  

2. Easy restore. An easy backup solution also makes restoring lost data a snap. The easier it is to restore, the less time is wasted deciding what to do. Supported by an intuitive interface, Acronis offers near-instant RTOs, making it possible to restore data in less than 15 seconds. After all, business backup is all about being able to restore data quickly to avoid costly downtime.

The outdated interface of legacy backup solutions can make data restoration a difficult task. And since companies often push their IT team to perform multiple tasks with limited resources, having an easy-to-use solution can be the difference between recovering quickly and going under because the interface was difficult to understand.

Hydro Alunorte, the world’s largest alumina refinery, selected Acronis Backup Advanced for exactly this reason. What used to take two days to restore can now be recovered in just two to four hours. That is a huge difference not just for convenience, but because each day of downtime costs them an estimated $4.2 million. There are many more examples: just check the case studies in our resource center.  

3. Easy training. Imagine losing data in a regional office and having to talk someone else through hundreds of recovery steps over the phone. With Acronis Backup 12.5, you’ll never have to do that. Not only is the process easy to explain, Acronis Backup 12.5 includes a number of powerful remote data management and cloud-ready recovery features. IT admins can easily explain how to perform data recovery to distant staff members, and remote management means there is little margin for error.

Easy-to-use software also simplifies staff training, since team members will easily understand how to follow the best practices you put in place and what to do in emergency situations. The Advanced edition of Acronis Backup 12.5 also comes with role-based administrative access, so IT admins can delegate certain backup tasks to other users.  

4.  Error troubleshooting. Acronis extends the concept of easy backup one step further by offering dashboards with customizable widgets. This is especially important when something goes wrong, since these dashboards provide a quick, clear picture of the protected environment. Simply by opening the first page of the web console, IT admins can see what is backed up, how often, how much data they have, and how much space is left on their storage devices.

Dashboard items are also clickable, which means you can simply click on a graph to access the underlying data. If you see a warning about your target storage device, clicking it will take you to that device so you can free up space or change the storage location. Similarly, if the dashboard displays a backup error against a server, clicking on the item will help you troubleshoot it: you’ll be taken straight to the root of the problem.  

5. Easy reporting. Reporting is a routine task for organizations, but manual backup reports can take hours to prepare in a busy environment. Once again, Acronis Backup 12.5 makes it easy. Reports are automated and can be customized as required.

If you process reports through some third-party software, you can dump the backup reports into a specific folder for processing. There is also an option to export and import the report structure (including the widgets and schedule settings) to a .json file. Many users find this useful in case they need to reinstall the management server or copy the report structure to a different management server. Easy reports mean IT admins are more likely to use them, which helps prevent errors and unnecessary data loss.  

As you can see, having an easy backup really means you can do more. It enables increased productivity and reduced risk of data loss, which is important in today’s business environment.

But don’t take our word for it. Try Acronis Backup 12.5 today and see how easy it can be to protect your data for the future.