Top Backup-as-a-Service (Baas) Providers

Backup-as-a-service (BaaS) solutions allow enterprises to protect multiple storage and software environments with a single backup and recovery platform. 

BaaS gives businesses access to advanced data protection capabilities through a subscription and manages the solution without requiring them to configure servers. Because they typically offer advanced recovery tools and additional security features, BaaS solutions are a good choice for enterprises that need an outsourced data protection platform. 

See below to learn all about some of the top backup-as-a-service solutions designed for enterprise data protection and recovery: 

Choosing the right BaaS provider

• Top BaaS providers
  • Acronis Cyber Protect
  • Cohesity DataProtect
  • Commvault Complete Data Protection
  • Veeam
  • Carbonite
• Features
• Benefits
• Use cases
• What to look for in a BaaS provider

Top BaaS providers

Acronis Cyber Protect

Acronis Cyber Protect offers backup services within its business data protection platform, among other tools, like cloud disaster recovery (DR) and off-site cloud storage. Cyber Protect allows users to scan backup copies for malware using tools like behavioral heuristics and to allowlist company applications to decrease triggered false positives. 

Another feature is forensic backup, which allows teams to collect data from disk-level backups to view process information and conduct internal data investigations when needed. This is beneficial for IT teams that need the ability to review backup data quickly and analyze it for threats or anomalies.  

The Acronis agent detects changes made within designated business applications and creates backups automatically, so the most recent version of the application data isn’t lost. On a broader data protection scale, Cyber Protect gives enterprises access to alerts from the Acronis Cyber Protection Operation Centers (CPOC), which notify organizations when a disaster or other cybersecurity threat has occurred. 

Businesses that want a backup service belonging to a larger protective suite should consider Acronis; its security features go beyond simple backup to advanced, automated data protection. If your IT or security teams need additional tools like anti-ransomware and anti-cryptojacking technology, consider Cyber Protect. 

The Cyber Protect Essentials plan for one workstation starts at $59 a year; Cyber Protect Advanced for one workstation starts at $119 a year. Essentials for one server starts at $319 a year. 

Learn more about ransomware and backups: Best Backup Solutions for Ransomware Protection at eSecurity Planet

Cohesity DataProtect 

Cohesity DataProtect is a BaaS solution for software-as-a-service (SaaS), on-premises, and cloud data environments. It offers a single management interface for all data sources and uses a single pricing model for different workloads, so enterprises don’t have different pricing systems dependent on their applications. On the user interface, administrators can view a dashboard with basic data usage statistics and navigate to alerts to check any pending notifications. 

Users can perform either bulk or granular restores based on their recovery needs. They’re able to make global searches to locate data within their infrastructure. 

Cohesity supports a variety of environments and workloads, including VMware, Microsoft Hyper-V, Amazon EC2, and NetApp network-attached storage (NAS). Consider Cohesity if your enterprise uses Microsoft 365 applications and mostly Windows devices; note that DataProtect doesn’t support Mac machines. If your enterprise also has a hybrid cloud computing or storage environment, consider their solution. 

Cohesity was named a Leader in the 2022 Gartner Magic Quadrant for enterprise backup and recovery software solutions. 

Contact Cohesity to learn about enterprise pricing. 

Commvault

Commvault Complete Data Protection is an enterprise solution that supports multiple cloud providers, RAID arrays, tape libraries, and NAS solutions for storing protected data. If your enterprise uses legacy systems for storing backups, consider Commvault. 

Commvault Command Center is a management console for administrators to launch restoration processes, set role-based access controls for employees, and manage their other backup infrastructure tasks. The overview dashboard gives admins an overhead look at their backup environment, including current backup capacity and disk space. 

Commvault was named a Leader in the 2022 Gartner Magic Quadrant for enterprise backup and recovery software. Consider Commvault for a large-scale enterprise data protection solution, especially if your business uses multiple cloud vendors or virtual machines (VMs). 

Commvault offers a 30-day free trial for Complete Data Protection. Contact the vendor for pricing details.  

Veeam

Backup provider Veeam offers backup and disaster recovery services provided through Veeam managed service partners (MSPs). Supported public cloud environments include AWS, Azure, Google Cloud, IBM Cloud, and VMware Cloud Director. 

Managed by ​​Veeam Cloud & Service Provider (VCSP) Competency partners, Veeam has a BaaS solution specifically for Microsoft 365 environments. Consider this solution if your business uses the Microsoft suite for communication and collaboration. 

Veeam backs up a variety of environments, including physical network-attached storage systems, Nutanix AHV, SAP HANA, and Kubernetes. Veeam also partners with many global channel organizations and managed service providers, including Accenture, Cognizant, and Infosys. Additionally, Veeam offers BaaS and disaster recovery-as-a-service (DRaaS) solutions specifically designed for managed service providers. 

Gartner recognized Veeam as a Leader in the 2022 Magic Quadrant for enterprise backup and recovery software and ranked it highest for ability to execute. Consider Veeam if your business needs large-enterprise-quality protection for high-performance workloads or containers, or if you’re an MSP looking for a tailor-made backup tool for channel partners. 

Pricing is available by request from the vendor. 

Carbonite

Backup provider Carbonite offers a business suite for seven different use cases, including endpoint backup, information archiving, and data migration services. Users are able to configure a migration process and repeat it in the future. They can migrate cloud, virtual, and physical workloads to new environments. Carbonite specifically offers migration for SAP; consider Carbonite if you’re planning to move your SAP applications to a different environment and want to reduce data loss and downtime. 

Carbonite’s information archiving allows teams to search data within locations, like social media, email platforms, and SMS messages. They can search for human resources issues within company applications, like Microsoft Teams and collaboration software. This feature is useful for tracking data to solve HR and potential litigation issues. Other archive sources include Slack, YouTube, and Workfront. If your business needs to be able to search key applications for sensitive information, consider Carbonite. 

Carbonite offers cloud-to-cloud backup for Microsoft environments, Google Workspace, and Salesforce. This cloud backup is HIPAA and GDPR compliant, and storage is unlimited. It offers full redundancy through S3 to Glacier, Amazon’s archival storage. 

Carbonite custom business plans are available by contacting the provider.

Features of BaaS solutions

• Managed backup locations: Backup-as-a-service providers handle all upkeep of their data centers and servers where customer data is backed up. 
• Multiple storage locations: Backup providers typically support at least a few different cloud vendors, and some also support NAS arrays or online cloud storage tools, like Google Drive or Dropbox. 
• Experienced providers: Backup-as-a-service solutions are managed by the provider’s IT team rather than the customer’s. Although customer IT teams are still responsible for configuring and implementing the solution as they want, they’re not required to have personnel highly experienced in backup technology.  

Benefits of BaaS solutions

• Improved availability rates: Often, backup services help enterprises restore data and applications more quickly than otherwise, as backup providers specifically work to bring systems back at full capacity in a rapid time frame. 
• Data storage flexibility: Because backup services allow businesses to back up data from a variety of storage platforms and devices, they give enterprises a single tool to protect data in multiple storage systems. 
• Cost and time savings: Enterprises aren’t required to maintain their own backup servers or off-site locations. The service provider maintains data centers and backup servers, saving them the expenses of deploying and securing those locations. 
• Flexibility: Backup service providers typically support at least a few different workloads or cloud environments; some of them support many. This allows companies that use multiple cloud storage solutions or SaaS applications to protect more than one platform.

BaaS use cases

“Our organization suffered a critical ransomware attack, effectively crippling our entire infrastructure (some 600+ servers and 2,500 PCs). Cohesity has literally saved us hundreds of hours of work, and I’d say it prevented us from having to actually pay the ransom note. We have been recovering systems and file shares from known good backups without any real issues. We found a few problems with how we had configured some of our backup jobs (not a Cohesity issue, but something we did) but that’s been a good learning opportunity for us as well. … With Cohesity, we’ve been able to recover machines and file shares, verify they’re clean, and bring the applications back online. … Frankly, we all still have jobs and a functional hospital, because we have had so much success with Cohesity.” –Network engineer in an infrastructure and operations role, review of Cohesity DataProtect at Gartner Peer Insights 

“It secures our entire systems, cloud, virtual, and mobile platforms. It has helped us reduce the cost we spend on backup infrastructure by almost 60% since 2017.” –User in the food and beverage industry, review of Acronis CyberProtect at Gartner Peer Insights

“By implementing the backup system on client computers, in addition to the security of information and data, we have enabled all our colleagues to access their documents in the backup when they are on the road, on vacation, in the country, or abroad. … Commvault made it possible for inspectors to access documents while in the field, to upload photos and other documents on to servers immediately.” –User in the IT services industry, review of Commvault Backup and Recovery at Gartner Peer Insights 

What to look for in a BaaS provider

When purchasing a BaaS platform: 

• Select a provider that offers support for the majority, if not all, of your major storage solutions. You’ll want to back up as many data sources as possible in a single tool. 
• Choose a provider with an available and knowledgeable customer support team. If your business struggles to implement the solution, you’ll have assistance from the vendor.
• Analyze providers to ensure that they provide sufficient security measures. If your business wants a backup solution with particularly stringent security controls, look for a complete backup and recovery suite with tools like encryption and access control. 
• Choose a vendor that complies with all data protection requirements. Any third-party software affects your company’s own compliance posture, and aside from that, it’s safest to partner with vendors that strictly comply with data regulations.

Want to learn more about disaster recovery providers? Read Top DRaaS Providers and Disaster Recovery Services next.