Every day is a new Data Protection Day

By: Daniel Fried, General Manager (GM) & Senior Vice President (SVP), EMEA and Worldwide Channels at Veeam

The events of 2020 have profoundly changed the way businesses across EMEA work – with millions of employees now working from their home offices, kitchen tables and living room sofas.

With the pandemic, remote and agile working practices are now steadily in place. And with this comes an ongoing data protection conundrum for organisations across all industries.

CIOs are challenged by the fact that their organisation’s data is now everywhere. Whereas previously, the physical location of data has been mainly restricted to controlled environments such as officers and data centres, it is now dispersed across hundreds, maybe thousands of homes.

Add to this that data protection is not just an IT issue, but a business issue. Yes, technology forms part of the solution for effective data management and protection. But data protection in the digital economy requires a coherent strategy, company-wide policy, and ongoing employee training.

Furthermore, the risks of not protecting data appropriately far outweigh the investment required to implement the right technology and strategy. Failing to do so costs time and money – two resources businesses can ill-afford to waste given the economic uncertainty which lies ahead.

Investing in the right platforms and approaches to manage and protect data is not just about de-risking. It’s also about unleashing the full potential of the data you have. Modern data protection can provide new levels of confidence and operational excellence, ensuring your data is always protected and available, as well as delivering economic and productivity benefits.

For organisations looking to transform digitally and accelerate their adoption of cloud-based services in line with the impact of Covid-19, there are new data protection challenges on the horizon.

As data volumes and the complexity of IT increases, it is not just about protecting data, but about realising cost efficiencies, automating processes and gaining greater business intelligence.

28^th of January was observed as Data Protection Day. My message to EMEA businesses is that every day brings a new data protection challenge. Whether it’s dealing with cyber-attacks targeting home-workers or prioritising investment in data protection against other strategic business objectives.

The fact is that for so many businesses in the digital era, data is the most valuable asset they have other than their people – it defines their business and its place in the market. Therefore, every day is Data Protection Day for businesses looking to succeed in 2021 and beyond.

As organisations look to modernize their business practices, data protection must remain a key component of this plan.