Business continuity, CSPs, Content, Storage

Veritas Launches AWS Cloud Storage Service Integration, Developer APIs

Veritas Technologies recently unveiled NetBackup 8.1.1 with Amazon Web Services (AWS) support. The launch also included NetBackup RestAPI – a family of APIs for developers, partners and solution providers. 

The API push is particularly important to Veritas, which is striving to strengthen its data management partner ecosystem after spinning off from Symantec  in 2016. The effort also seeks to solidify NetBackup's footing in highly regulated industries -- particularly public sector, healthcare, financial services and manufacturing, the company says.

On the standards front, NetBackup now supports the Federal Information Processing Standard (FIPS) certification along with all applicable Defense Information Systems Agency (DISA) Security Template Implementation Guides (STIG), the company says.

Meanwhile, NetBackup 8.1.1 introduces integration with Amazon Web Services cloud storage service and AWS Glacier for data archiving and long-term backup. Those certainly are key milestones, but they also arrive in a flooded market where numerous backup companies already have AWS plays in place.

Cloud Outage: Who's Protected?

Still, it sounds like many companies have yet to sort out their cloud backup strategies. A case in point: Veritas unveiled a study showing most companies remain unequipped to deal with a cloud outage.

Veritas Senior Director Alex Sakaguchi
Veritas Senior Director Alex Sakaguchi

“What we’re highlighting in this release is how many people do not realize or have not fully evaluated the impact of a potential cloud outage to their business,” Alex Sakaguchi, senior director, global cloud solutions marketing, Veritas, explains to ChannelE2E. “Beyond that, people don’t even really feel like it’s their responsibility to recover from said outage should it occur.”

“Those are two very alarming points to consider,” he adds.

According to the results, 59 percent of respondents believe that dealing with cloud service interruptions is the primary responsibility of the cloud service provider. Eighty-three percent of respondents also believe that their organization’s cloud service provider is responsible for ensuring that their workloads and data in the cloud are protected against outages.

The survey points out that, while cloud service providers have service level agreements in place, those are typically for the infrastructure layer and they only have the responsibility of restoring that infrastructure in the event of an outage.

Sakaguchi explains that companies need to educate themselves on exactly what their responsibilities are in these types of events.

Additional insights from Joe Panettieri.