Guest post by Mamush Heayie
No one wants their data locked up. Portable data represents a freedom of choice and operational efficiency. It compels attention and is one of the major drivers of the cloud.
Cloud computing has revolutionized data management. The technology provides scalable cloud storage repositories and instant data recovery anywhere, anytime and on to any kind of device. The emergence of technologies that facilitate data portability has enhanced the value of the cloud and made it one of the most powerful means of integrating the scattered parts of the enterprise and linking up mobile workers operating in remote parts of the market.
When data cannot be ported across vendor servers, the customer faces a situation known as Vendor lock-in. The situation is automatic when proprietary technologies dominate the product or service delivery or inefficient processes/constraints prevent data portability. It is therefore, not surprising that one of the reasons (albeit unfounded) for not migrating to the cloud is “possibility of vendor lock-in”.
It is now more than three years since data portability hit the news with a presentation of the technology at Gartner summit in 2009. The technology has gained momentum and definition and has emerged as an inevitable dimension of cloud backup and recovery. Cloud backup software developers ensure that data portability can be leveraged in public, private or hybrid clouds and cloud backed-up data is never orphaned by provisioning for data application mobility and abstraction of data from the hardware layer. This gives organizations tremendous flexibility and allows the free flow of data between cloud backup service providers. Users can now plan investments with an assurance that they have the freedom of choice and the facility to switch data between cloud backup vendors.
However, it should be remembered that not all cloud backup vendors offer the facility. It is best to read the fine print and confirm that you are not getting your enterprise into a vendor lock-in situation. It may also be a good idea to interact with the potential vendors directly and satisfy yourself about the portability of the information you store in the chosen cloud backup repository. Check out the migration tools that are being offered and choose cloud backup providers who are committed to following and implementing standards such as the Cloud Data Management Interface (CDMI) that has been published by the Storage Networking Industry Association (SNIA).
About the Author: Mamush Heayie is Managing Editor at www.BackupReview.info – a leading informational website for the cloud backup and data storage industry.
