How Government Agencies Can Benefit from DPaaS

With growing concerns regarding data loss, an increase in the need for data backups, and complex compliance requirements for government agencies, the global data protection as a service (DPaaS) market is expanding.

While the popularity of DPaaS continues to grow among managed service providers, government agencies are also realizing that DPaaS offers numerous advantages when providing secure IT services for internal organizations. To fully take advantage of this service, learn more about what exactly DPaaS is, why the market is rapidly expanding, and how government organizations can harness its value for the best results, continue reading below.

Why is Data Protection Essential for Government Agencies?

The current IT landscape is constantly evolving, with malicious attackers continually devising new ways to attack. Data protection safeguards data from compromise, loss, or corruption, which could include virus and malware attacks, identity theft, scams, and more. Since government organizations may contain sensitive information that is not intended for the public, a security breach could put the privacy of officials, clients, and sensitive data at risk.

With ever-expanding advancements in data protection technology, malicious attackers are also developing new ways to compromise information. In the first six months of 2019 alone, data breaches exposed 4.1 billion records. Since then, the need for data protection has only grown more apparent. With the COVID-19 pandemic further accelerating cyberattacks and data breaches, government organizations need the best protection to prevent a potentially devastating attack. A recent survey found that almost half (46%) of global businesses have experienced at least one cybersecurity incident since moving to a remote workforce due to COVID-19 lockdowns, while the FBI has reported that the number of attack complaints in their Cyber Division has reached as many as 4,000 a day – a 400% increase from pre-COVID-19 months. With malicious software continuing to grow as a threat, government agencies need continuously comprehensive data protection to prevent the risk of data being compromised.

What is DPaaS?

Data protection as a service (DPaaS) is what it sounds like, a cloud-based service for protecting organizational data. With DPaaS, organizations can secure archival data for long-term retention requirements and enable quick data recovery in the event of a disruption to avoid business interruption. The service also provides enhanced security and stability for when your data is most vulnerable.

When compared to buying storage hardware and paying to keep it operational, DPaaS is an affordable option. Organizations pay a monthly subscription for the peace of mind that they have everything they need to recover their data.

How Does DPaaS Work?

DPaaS can secure sensitive information by creating copies of the data and storing it in a separate location. This can include online in the cloud, or through an external device. Providers offering DPaaS may also include additional options to enhance data protection, including VPNs, firewalls, system health monitoring, incident response, and audits.

DPaaS is ideal for organizations facing the following challenges:

• Backups often fail
• Backup windows often run into the next day
• Multiple backup solutions need to be managed
• Backup space constantly needs to be freed up

Under the umbrella of data-related as-a-service offerings includes disaster recovery as a service (DRaaS), backup as a service (BaaS), and storage as a service (STaaS). These services offer government organizations the protection they need in an increasingly unpredictable world.

Top Drivers Growing the DPaaS Market

The DPaaS market is predicted to have accelerated growth as more organizations accept the cloud and services-based storage options, as well as the continued operational challenges due to malicious attackers. The service is predicted to reach nearly $29 million by 2022, with a CAGR of 31.5% from 2016 to 2022. Several drivers of the growing global data protection services market include growing concerns of data loss, the increasing need for data backups, and the integration of recovery and backup services.

Data loss due to disruption can be devastating for government organizations in terms of costs, and the consequences from lost sensitive data. DPaaS offers tools that can prevent loss and mitigate disruptions if they indeed occur and makes retrieving earlier versions of files much more efficient when compared to traditional backup methods.

These advantages have led to the increasingly rapid adoption of cloud computing and the soaring of the DPaaS market to be a $46 billion industry by 2024. As more organizations desire management and high scalability for their services, the DPaaS market will only grow.

DPaaS Benefits for Government Agencies

Government agencies, in particular, have much to take advantage of from DPaaS services. Here are some of the benefits of choosing DPaaS for government solutions. By encompassing backup and disaster recovery, data protection, and storage, DPaaS allows for a resilient data protection approach that can be scaled as your demands evolve.

Faster Backup & Recovery Process

Whether it’s due to a natural disaster, or a malicious human actor, disruptions are inevitable. When they do happen, government agencies need to be back up and running in no time! One of the most valuable benefits DPaaS delivers is a quick and resilient backup and recovery process to avoid extended downtime. Hosted cloud backups run continuously, enabling an accurate and quick backup when needed.

Reduced Overall Costs

When budgets are tight and you need to optimize what funds you have available for IT, you want to prioritize the areas that need it most. Choosing DPaaS as a cloud-based solution from a trusted advisor is an efficient and budget-friendly option. Instead of having to allocate large portions of funds to keep off-site facilities operational, DPaaS only requires a monthly service fee charged by a provider who manages the operation – freeing up your own internal team.

Enhanced Data Protection

Choosing DPaas services from a trusted provider allows your government organization to take advantage of resilient and agile data protection. In today’s current IT climate, managing data protection is essential, but many internal teams can be overwhelmed when balancing data protection and the organization’s own strategic initiatives. Being overworked or understaffed in IT makes your entire agency vulnerable.

Depending on what your unique needs are, your DPaaS strategy can include everything from:

• Both local and remote storage hardware
• IT support
• Licensing
• Regularly scheduled test restores
• System health monitoring
• Incident response (failed jobs)
• Request response (restores)
• Software and hardware upgrades
• Co-management
• Immutable copies to prevent data loss
• Reporting
• Audits to ensure all data is protected

Additionally, choosing a DPaaS provider not only allows your government organization to enjoy secure data protection, but also receive the expertise and vigilance of IT professionals who can help with compliance concerns and expert advice regarding your data.

Leverage DPaaS Powered by Thrive in Your Government Agency!

Thrive has been supporting government agency IT needs for years. Thrive’s Data Protection as a Service offering provides backup and restore capabilities of your data that are integral to your organization, including physical, virtual, NAS, office 365, etc. Wherever you store your data – on-site, off-site, in the private or public cloud, or even in hybrid environments – Thrive can deliver the protection you need. For systems of all sizes, Thrive ensures ready, reliable access to your sensitive information.

For more information on how Thrive can provide your government organization with the data protection you need for today’s ever-evolving IT environment contact our team of experts today.