Sifting Through Online Backup Service Options: Page 3 of 6

However, many end-user backup services are new and often lack desired features. In certain cases, they do not offer corporations many options for scheduling backups -- they may either be done at night or continuously during the days. "Corporations want online backup systems that are intelligent and automatically schedule backups when they are needed," noted Adam W. Couture, principal research analyst at research firm Gartner Inc. In other cases, the backup data is housed only for a short period of time, say a few months. With recent regulatory changes, that may not be long enough.

Another challenge is many desktop services' reporting functions do not scale well. Comprehensive, consolidated reports, such as how much information all employees have stored and how often it is being changed, tend to be hard to find.

While many of the online backup services been designed for consumers, there are a few with a business emphasis. In these cases, they tend to offer high-bandwidth connections to collect information off of servers and feature more comprehensive reporting features. However, they tend to be more expensive and more difficult to deploy.

Another limitation is a lack of integration among online backup services. Largely, the desktop services and the server backup options run autonomously, with little or no integration. As the market has been maturing, corporations have been searching for vendors able to offer integrated backup options for both the desktop and the server. That may come to pass as more established vendors enter the market.

The market for online backup is still immature, but seems to be developing quickly. For consumers, there are a host of options and more are on the way. For businesses, options are still limited but developing. As this market evolves, these services should become more comprehensive and alluring to more companies.