This ESG Solution Showcase was commissioned by Carbonite and is distributed under license from ESG.

© 2016 by The Enterprise Strategy Group, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

Introduction

In recent years especially, most organizations have become extremely dependent on their data. Even at small and midsized

organizations surveyed by ESG, backup and recovery (the tactical side of data protection) and business continuity/disaster

recovery (the strategic side centered on ensuring user productivity) were among this year’s top-five most-reported IT

spending priorities (see Figure 1).1

Figure 1. Top Five IT Priorities of Midmarket Organizations for 2016

Source: Enterprise Strategy Group, 2016

To overcome all the potential issues that can affect end-user productivity and even business survivability, organizations

should plan for a protection approach that spans a spectrum of initiatives and outcomes (see Figure 2).

Figure 2. The Data Protection Spectrum

Source: Enterprise Strategy Group, 2016

1 Source: ESG Research Report, 2016 IT Spending Intentions Survey, February 2016.

19%

21%

22%

25%

33%

Improving collaboration capabilities

Business continuity/disaster recovery programs

Data integration

Improving data backup and recovery

Cybersecurity initiatives

Top five most important IT priorities for midmarket organizations (100 to 999 employees) over the next 12 months. (Percent of respondents, N=232, ten responses accepted)

Why Midsized Organizations Should Consider EVault by Carbonite Date: November 2016 Authors: Jason Buffington, Principal Analyst; and Monya Keane, Senior Research Analyst

Abstract: Today it is possible, even for smaller organizations, to establish both backup and full-fledged hybrid data protection under one robust onsite/offsite underpinning. ESG has four recommendations to assist such organizations as they try to pursue a disk-to-disk-to-cloud data protection strategy in the right way, with particular consideration for EVault by Carbonite.

Solution Showcase

Enterprise Strategy Group | Getting to the bigger truth.™

Solution Showcase: Why Midsized Organizations Should Consider EVault by Carbonite 2

© 2016 by The Enterprise Strategy Group, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

Efforts such as backup, replication, availability, etc., are complementary initiatives. Each advances the broader goals of

ensuring that the business stays resilient and its end-users stay productive.

What to Look for in Hybrid Data Protection

ESG defines “hybrid data protection” as a combination of on-premises disk-based recovery and a cloud-based service to

facilitate data survivability and eventual restoration as part of a broader business continuity/disaster recovery strategy.

ESG recommends that midsized organizations consider four capabilities as they look for solutions that will provide rapid,

flexible agility onsite and ensure data survivability offsite. Those capabilities are:

Ease of acquisition and deployment.

Ease of use.

Ease of extensibility.

Expertise.

Ease of Acquisition and Deployment

Hybrid data protection is a priority of midsized organizations because for many of them, such solutions were unattainable

due to complexity or cost. Today, however—with the cloud achieving mainstream viability, along with the “right-sizing” of

software and hardware by vendors—midsized organizations have access to true hybrid data protection solutions.

In some cases, solution acquisition/deployment might now be easier because the software or hardware has been

engineered for midsized organizations to implement. In other cases, the software/hardware may have been combined into

a unified appliance form factor. Organizations purchasing that appliance can be confident that the internal components are

preconfigured to interoperate effectively.

An appliance is not a necessity. But its benefits can extend beyond rightsizing and component preconfiguration.

Specifically, an appliance deployment is more likely to succeed due to integration consistency. Small or midsized

organizations may lack deep expertise in hybrid data protection, but a preconfigured appliance encapsulates that expertise

within itself. Thus, the chances will be greater that the initial deployment succeeds, which in turn boosts the chance that

recovery efforts also will succeed.

Ease of Use

Midsized organizations have struggled with hybrid data protection planning and with using complex tool sets. Thankfully,

some user interfaces today hide complicated automation and orchestration behind “easy button”-style usage, sometimes

boasting nearly iPhone-level simplicity.

In addition to seeking out a management framework in which the hybrid data protection underpinnings are decluttered,

midsized organizations also should look for cloud-friendly management frameworks to facilitate data accessibility during a

crisis.

Ease of Extensibility

The biggest deal breaker for midsized organizations desiring hybrid data protection traditionally has been the lack of a

secondary site. A cloud service is an exceptionally good substitute.

Midsized organizations should consider cloud-powered solutions to support as many aspects of their IT operations as

possible. Along with offering an appealing economic model, the cloud can provide high levels of service availability (and

data survivability) when used with on-premises backups for local and remote recoverability.

Solution Showcase: Why Midsized Organizations Should Consider EVault by Carbonite 3

© 2016 by The Enterprise Strategy Group, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

Expertise

The three previous guidance points related to the solution. But the most important key to success is expertise. Backup and

recovery can be tactical, and an IT pro’s backup skills may be self-taught. But proper planning for strategic-caliber hybrid

data protection may demand know-how that cannot be accrued by trial and error.

Midsized organizations should engage planning services related to ensuring resilient IT delivery. They will discover that the

difference between “good” hybrid data protection and “great” hybrid data protection simply boils down to the partnering

they get from adept service providers or trusted resellers who have a deep understanding of the environment.

Some organizations could attempt to architect the required pieces on their own (particularly when the effort involves

installing/using an appliance). However, leveraging the expertise of a consultant will heighten the probability of success—

boosting protection against catastrophic impacts and optimizing everyday IT operations.

One Solution to Consider: EVault by Carbonite

EVault, whose eponymous flagship technology was recently acquired by Carbonite, was one of the earliest innovators in

disk-to-disk-to-cloud (D2D2C) solution architectures. Today, local EVault turnkey backup appliances and software offerings

can be combined with a remote cloud service. The EVault solution has actually offered similar solutions for many years—

even before “hybrid data protection” and “the cloud” became mainstream IT terms.

Recognizing that what EVault has been delivering for nearly a decade is now a widely coveted solution, it is appropriate to

assess it in the context of the prescriptive guidance already offered:

Ease of acquisition and deployment—Historically, EVault solutions have been delivered mainly in an appliance form

factor, which ensured right-sizing of software/hardware components and consistency of deployment across midsized

IT infrastructures or remote office and branch office (ROBO) deployments. Not all EVault solution architectures

require an appliance, however—EVault offers the software alone as an option, while still enabling integration with the

EVault cloud.

Ease of use—As mentioned, today’s admins desire a modern user interface that is able to obfuscate the granular

details that might otherwise make hybrid data protection an error-prone exercise. Ideally, they also should want a

management solution that is cloud-powered to make offsite retrieval easy to invoke as part of a recovery event. The

EVault UI (see Figure 3) endeavors to combine a decade of EVault hybrid data protection best practices with the

consumer-style usability expectations of Carbonite within a single management experience.

Figure 3. The EVault User Interface

Source: Carbonite, 2016

Solution Showcase: Why Midsized Organizations Should Consider EVault by Carbonite 4

© 2016 by The Enterprise Strategy Group, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

Ease of extensibility—Large enterprises often have multiple operating locations with an IT infrastructure set up at

each, combined with a lot of in-house expertise. Midsized organizations typically do not. Therefore, the ability to

easily integrate across a single environment while using a cloud service as a secondary site is vitally important. EVault

delivered that capability almost since its inception. And, as mentioned, EVault is a component of the Carbonite brand

now: Carbonite is a well-regarded, experienced, cloud-powered innovator in data protection.

Expertise—It’s not an overstatement to claim that the biggest single accelerant of (or detriment to) one’s broader

data protection and recovery success is expertise. That expertise should be encapsulated in the backup software

architecture and ideally be offered through a good service provider that is able to serve as a genuine partner in

ensuring a successful outcome. Such capability can come from the EVault cloud and the services Carbonite provides in

conjunction with secondary target and failover software.

Why EVault Will Be Disruptive in 2017

The big reason most organizations should embrace a D2D2C architecture is that it will enable them to enjoy the combined

merits of each solution—namely, rapid onsite recovery along with cloud-based data survivability.

For example, cloud-based data protection services will often interoperate with an onsite recovery capability as part of the

broader solution. In other words, most cloud protection providers are using an appliance as the method for facilitating a

bulk restore (see Figure 4).2

Figure 4. How Data Protection Service Providers Facilitate Bulk Restores (Midmarket Organizations)

Source: Enterprise Strategy Group, 2016

That said, many organizations struggle with right-sizing and maintaining the myriad components (the server or the

appliances) and the various cloud services in a way that is sustainable and predictable over time.

2 Source: ESG Research Report, Data Protection Cloud Strategies, to be published.

The service includes an on-premises caching

appliance or local backup for faster restores, 42%

The service provides an appliance that we can power up and use to access our data, 21%

The service provides a hard drive with a copy

of our data, 21%

Our BaaS service provider does not enable bulk

restores, 15%

Manner in which backup service providers (BaaS) facilitate bulk restores of large amounts of data among midmarket (100 to 999 employees) organizations currently using BaaS. (Percent

of respondents, N=53)

Solution Showcase: Why Midsized Organizations Should Consider EVault by Carbonite 5

© 2016 by The Enterprise Strategy Group, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

The Carbonite Answer Is Essentially ‘Hardware-as-a-service’

Although IT vendors provided an appliance form factor that was then integrated into a cloud service, many customers still

struggled with the acquisition and right-sizing of the appliance or backup server as well as with the behind-the-scenes

alignment to various cloud repositories.

To address this widespread issue, Carbonite is delivering the EVault offering in a 10TB (protected) turnkey consumption

model. It includes the necessary appliance hardware and cloud storage, all transparent to the customer’s solution. When

the customer pays the monthly cost of this 10TB-protected service, all components and delivery mechanisms are included.

As a secondary benefit of the architecture, when the appliance becomes insufficient due to upgrades (or when it simply

“ages out” over time), it is replaced by Carbonite with no incremental charge.

In certain ways, the approach is like signing a long-term lease on office equipment. Another way to think about the

consumption model is to compare it to vacationing at an all-inclusive resort—in which flights, ground travel, lodging, food,

drink, and entertainment are all pre-packaged. Thus, all the customer needs to focus on is enjoying the experience.

Customers embracing the Carbonite model also do not have to “pre-guess” what their deduplication efficiencies or their

software-to-hardware-to-cloud ratios will be. Predetermining anything is often hard to do and is always more art than

science. In this case, 10TB of production data will be protected, regardless of what it takes from the Carbonite perspective

to make that outcome happen.

The Bigger Truth

Regardless of size, all organizations recognize the need to ensure IT resiliency and support end-user productivity.

Unfortunately, midsized organizations have often justifiably concluded that hybrid data protection was unattainable for

them due to their own skill shortages and the cost or complexity of the solutions being sold a few years ago.

Organizations (particularly those with limited resources and scale) would do themselves a favor by focusing on the myriad

recovery outcomes they need, and then seeking out data protection solutions and services that combine the “colors” of

the data protection spectrum into a consolidated, well-orchestrated solution platform.

Thankfully, it is now possible to find right-sized technologies such as EVault by Carbonite that are disruptive and all-

inclusive—and that combine the backup/recovery capabilities midsized organizations need, combined with the hybrid data

protection capabilities that midsized organizations wanted but couldn’t find until now.

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© 2016 by The Enterprise Strategy Group, Inc. All Rights Reserved.