To maintain data security in the face of increasing cyber threats, having a comprehensive cloud protection plan is essential for IT leaders. Protection for file shares and databases will be more critical than ever before, as most organizations are adopting cloud services to manage their workloads.



According to Veeam Software's report on the cloud protection trends for 2023, it is crucial to have a backup of cloud-hosted workloads after they are brought online in a cloud and assist in migration from cloud to data center. The report also reveals that most organizations with a "cloud first" strategy start new workloads in the cloud, and about one-third of cloud servers are launched in a cloud host, while two-thirds are migrated from the data center.

Moreover, data protection strategies in 2023 should ideally back up all files and databases in the cloud and assist in data migration based on business requirements. Organizations also need to realize the importance of maintaining long-term retention for cloud data backups, even if the cloud services are reliable.

Finally, the report shows that most backups for cloud-hosted workloads are done by the same team that backs up data center workloads. Though server resilience or built-in "undo" functions are useful, they do not negate the need for backup of M365 data. Only 4% of organizations rely solely on the recycle bin, compared to 47% in 2021, while 78% now use a third-party backup, compared with 45% in 2021.