--- title: "GUEST BLOG: Data’s Value to Businesses Demands the New Approach of Cyber Protection" description: IDC's Andrew Smith offers his thoughts on how the increased value of data for businesses demands a new strategy geared toward cyber protection. canonical_url: https://www.acronis.com/en/blog/posts/guest-blog-datas-value-businesses-demands-new-approach-cyber-protection/ locale: en last_updated: 2026-10-27 --- [Acronis Blog](https://www.acronis.com/en/blog/) # GUEST BLOG: Data’s Value to Businesses Demands the New Approach of Cyber Protection IDC's Andrew Smith, Research Manager, Enterprise Infrastructure, offers his thoughts on how enterprises are collecting more data than ever before and learning how to use that data to digitally transform their business...and how its increased value has implications for storage, usage, and security. A new data strategy should be considered. "Solving this problem requires the right data strategy," he says, "something inclusive which spans organizational disciplines and ensures the flood of data being welcomed with open arms doesn't end up washing us away." [Learn More](https://www.acronis.com/en/products/cyber-protect/) [![Image 2: Acronis Editorial Team](https://staticfiles.acronis.com/images/content/d85707ae91461544212d39836dc32b42.png)](https://www.acronis.com/en/blog/authors/acronis/ "Acronis Editorial Team") [Acronis Editorial Team](https://www.acronis.com/en/blog/authors/acronis/) 2 min read Last updated 31 July 2019 #### Popular opinion casts enterprise data as an untapped resource ready to be harnessed – the reality is much more complicated from an infrastructure perspective **Andrew Smith, Research Manager, Enterprise Infrastructure, IDC** Twitter: [@AndrewSmithIDC](https://twitter.com/andrewsmithidc) "Data is the lifeblood of your enterprise." "Data is the new oil." "Data is more valuable than gold." You've heard all the clichés, but beneath the hype lay some important truths. Enterprises are collecting more data than ever before and learning how to use that data to digitally transform their business. As organizations become dependent on ever-increasing, diverse sets of data, the need to keep this data both secure and accessible grows exponentially. Downtime or data loss is unacceptable because organizations expect the feedback loop between data gathering, analysis, and decision-making to be instantaneous. From an IT infrastructure perspective, the growing value of enterprise data – both perceived and real – has some exciting implications. It means primary storage workloads for applications critical to the business must be performant, highly available, and resilient. Likewise, secondary storage workloads once designated for just archiving, backup, and disaster recovery are now being leveraged to provide analytics, automation, compliance, and security features which requires frequent access to data traditionally considered "cold" or non-mission-critical. But this story also has a dark side. The promise of new capabilities, value, and innovation through "data" is accompanied by a level of anxiety and fear for IT and infrastructure admins tasked with shepherding this process. As more data is dispersed across the enterprise and integrated into every workflow and every business decision, this has the potential to create more vectors of attack and more points of failure. Solving this problem requires the right data strategy, something inclusive which spans organizational disciplines and ensures the flood of data being welcomed with open arms doesn't end up washing us away. Cybersecurity and data protection have traditionally been treated as separate disciplines, but enterprise appetites for data and analysis make this delineation increasingly difficult to maintain. We advise organizations to embrace this change and use data growth and digital transformation initiatives as an opportunity to adopt the concepts of cyber protection. Cyber protection enlists the skills of traditional backup/recovery, disaster recovery, cybersecurity, and storage management specialists to support the organization's data security strategy. Both cybersecurity and data protection functions must be coordinated into a continuum of protection that bridges their traditional silos. Once integrated under the banner of cyber protection, these combined functions can provide the breadth of capability needed to defend against malicious threats like ransomware, while also preventing data loss or downtime from planned and unplanned events. Simply put: organizations that pursue a comprehensive cyber protection program will be better protected against data loss, data theft and data manipulation. For more information, [download a six-page white paper](https://www.acronis.com/en-us/resource-center/resource/419/) to learn what IDC recommends to IT organizations in order to stay secure and protected. [Cybersecurity](https://www.acronis.com/en/blog/tags/cybersecurity/) [Cyber protection](https://www.acronis.com/en/blog/tags/cyber-protection/) ## Written by ![Image 3: Acronis Editorial Team](https://staticfiles.acronis.com/images/content/d85707ae91461544212d39836dc32b42.png) Acronis Editorial Team Acronis is a global cyber protection company that provides natively integrated cybersecurity, data protection, and endpoint management for managed service providers (MSPs), small and medium businesses (SMBs), and enterprise IT departments. [Previous post](https://www.acronis.com/en/blog/posts/enterprises-gain-enhanced-cyber-protection-acronis-backup-support-sap-hana/) [Enterprises Gain Enhanced Cyber Protection with Acronis Backup Support for SAP HANA](https://www.acronis.com/en/blog/posts/enterprises-gain-enhanced-cyber-protection-acronis-backup-support-sap-hana/) [Next post](https://www.acronis.com/en/blog/posts/acronis-announces-official-cyber-protection-partnership-fc-internazionale-milano/) [Acronis Announces Official Cyber Protection Partnership with FC Internazionale Milano](https://www.acronis.com/en/blog/posts/acronis-announces-official-cyber-protection-partnership-fc-internazionale-milano/) About Acronis Acronis is a leader in AI-native cyber protection, unifying data protection, cybersecurity, IT operations and hybrid infrastructure to deliver business continuity, security and compliance with less cost and complexity. More than 21,000 service providers trust Acronis to protect over 750,000 businesses in 150 countries. Acronis is headquartered in Schaffhausen, Switzerland. [Add as a preferred source on Google](https://google.com/preferences/source?q=acronis.com) ## Related stories Want to learn more? Read the latest stories featuring this solution on our blog. [Acronis Blog](https://www.acronis.com/en/blog/) ![Image 4: stc Bahrain and Acronis partner to bring advanced endpoint security to businesses in Bahrain](https://staticfiles.acronis.com/images/blog-card/9600f3eea83b8f4e168ea6c1409c8c26.png) [stc Bahrain and Acronis partner to bring advanced endpoint security to businesses in Bahrain](https://www.acronis.com/en/blog/posts/stc-bahrain-and-acronis-partner-to-bring-endpoint-security-to-businesses/) We are proud to announce a strategic partnership with stc Bahrain, expanding access to advanced cybersecurity services for businesses across Bahrain. **October 26, 2026**3 min read ![Image 5: Introducing New Acronis CEO: Prakash Panjwani](https://staticfiles.acronis.com/images/blog-card/30cb571f6f1aaa131733e5727a4a250c.png) [Introducing New Acronis CEO: Prakash Panjwani](https://www.acronis.com/en/blog/posts/introducing-new-acronis-ceo-prakash-panjwani/) We are pleased to announce the appointment of our new Chief Executive Officer, Prakash Panjwani. A veteran cybersecurity CEO, Panjwani previously served as CEO of WatchGuard Technologies and SafeNet. **October 15, 2026**2 min read ![Image 6: Acronis expands MDR toward broader workspace protection](https://staticfiles.acronis.com/images/blog-card/18e90e89f5ec4ef0901f19008d4ccbf2.png) [Acronis expands MDR toward broader workspace protection](https://www.acronis.com/en/blog/posts/acronis-expands-mdr-toward-broader-workspace-protection/) Acronis is expanding the MDR service with capabilities that make this expertise easier to deliver and help partners address more risks. The developments build on a broader commitment to managed security: helping service providers protect the connected workspace while giving customers access to the expertise needed to investigate threats, respond effectively and maintain business continuity. **October 13, 2026**6 min read