- 0203 751 4580
- Enterprise Centre, Cranborne Road, Potters Bar EN6 3DQ
SaaS
What is a SaaS application?
SaaS is an application that runs on a provider’s cloud (known as a SaaS provider) with the functionality delivered to users as a service via the internet.
SaaS is a popular and less expensive alternative to purchasing and maintaining applications on on-premises systems. Instead of downloading or installing applications from CDs and running them on a system’s hard drive, many organizations prefer to use a SaaS application.
Salesforce, Dropbox, Microsoft 365 (formally Office 365), Google Workspace (formally G Suite), and Cisco WebEx are examples of popular SaaS applications. Users/organizations typically rely on a pay-as-you-go model for these services, with a monthly or annual fee for a SaaS subscription. The provider is held to a Service Level Agreement (SLA) to ensure uptime and application availability.
How can data associated with a SaaS app get lost?
When using a SaaS application, there are many reasons why data can be lost.
1. Human error
Accidentally deleting or overwriting files or folders. Let’s face it: accidents happen.
2. Departing employees
Sometimes, when an employee leaves the company, their accounts are closed. The data on those accounts can be lost as well.
3. Insider misuse
Disgruntled employees may wreak havoc with data. A SaaS application lets a user delete or modify data without knowing the human intent behind the action.
4. Cyber attacks
SaaS applications can be accessed if even one employee's machine is compromised. Attacks can happen quite quickly when employees have weak passwords, fall for phishing scams, or click on malicious links.
5. Misaligned retention settings
A SaaS provider's data retention policy may not align with the organisation using the software. In regulated industries where compliance may require storing data for seven years, a SaaS provider that stores data for a lesser time can result in data being hard-deleted and lost forever.
Do I need a SaaS back up solution?
Many believe that there is no need for the user/organisation to perform a SaaS back up because the provider performs a SaaS cloud backup of the infrastructure and applications. While this is true, many users do not realise that these back ups are designed to be used by the provider to ensure it meets its customers’ SLAs with regards to uptime and high availability. In case of a major outage, the SaaS provider has back up processes in place to protect its data, systems, and applications, but that does not include your data. See the part of Microsoft’s SLA agreement that talks to this specific scenario:
Similarly, “Google’s application and network architecture is designed for maximum reliability and uptime.” Google guarantees 99.9% availability of its Google Workspace products, but that is not a guarantee that your data is protected. It means only that the software will continue to be available.
If you don’t back up your SaaS data following the 3-2-1 backup rule, your data is not safe. Organisations are therefore likely to suffer business disruption due to unrecoverable data loss in a SaaS application.
Lastly, the data associated with your SaaS application becomes important should your organisation decide to change service providers or purchase/develop an application that runs on a on-premises system. In these cases, you will need a copy of your data – both current data and historical data. Some providers let you download a copy of your raw data or offer a database schema or other mechanism to extract the data. Some providers offer very little help as it does not want to make it easy for customers to exit their service.
Advantages to a SaaS back up solution
Your SaaS is only as secure as your backup. With the right backup solution, you can:
- Safeguard data and recover granular items.
- Ensure business continuity and preparedness.
- Avoid legal ad regulatory compliance fees.
- Verify authenticity to ensure data is authentic, original and unchanged.
- Plan for migration to another SaaS provider or in-house system.
Bottom Line: Your organisation is responsible for backup and recovery of data on these services, while the SaaS provider’s responsibility to make sure the software infrastructure is available.
