**5.4 Backup as a service**

The unprecedented growth in data volume confronting today's IT organizations challenges not only IT management and budgets, but also all aspects of data

protection. The complexity of the data environment, exemplified by the proliferation and dynamism of virtual machines, constantly outpaces existing data backup plans. Deployment of a new backup solution takes weeks of planning, justification, procurement, and setup. Some organizations find the traditional on-premise backup approach inadequate to the challenge.

Service providers offer backup as a service that enables an organization to reduce its backup management overhead. It also enables the individual consumer to perform backup and recovery anytime, from anywhere, using a network connection. Backup as a service enables enterprises to procure backup services on-demand. Consumers do not need to invest in capital equipment in order to implement and manage their backup infrastructure. Many organizations' remote and branch offices have limited or no backup in place. Mobile workers represent a particular risk because of the increased possibility of lost or stolen machines. Backing up to cloud ensures regular and automated backups for these sites and workers who lack local IT staff, or who lack the time to perform and maintain regular backups.
