GigaOm Key Criteria for Evaluating Hybrid Cloud Data Protection Solutionsv5.0

1. Executive Summary

Hybrid cloud data protection refers to the security measures and technologies designed to safeguard data, applications, and infrastructures in hybrid cloud environments. These environments blend on-premises computing resources with private and public cloud services, necessitating a comprehensive approach to security that spans multiple platforms. The importance of hybrid cloud data protection stems from its role in ensuring data integrity, confidentiality, and availability across diverse digital infrastructure. As businesses increasingly adopt cloud technologies, the complexity of managing and securing data across different cloud models grows. Hybrid cloud data protection solutions address these challenges by implementing robust security measures such as backup, disaster recovery, and encryption mechanisms. This enhances data security and also ensures business continuity and compliance with various regulatory requirements. This technology is crucial for IT leaders, security professionals, and business executives who are responsible for maintaining the privacy, integrity, and availability of corporate data. Organizations in various sectors, especially those handling sensitive or critical data–such as healthcare, finance, and government–find hybrid cloud data protection indispensable for safeguarding their operations against data breaches and losses.

Business Imperative
From a CxO perspective, hybrid cloud data protection is not merely a technical necessity but a strategic imperative. Ensuring robust data protection in hybrid environments is critical for mitigating risks, reducing potential financial liabilities, and maintaining brand trust and customer loyalty. Effective data protection strategies enable organizations to leverage the scalability and efficiency of cloud services while minimizing the vulnerabilities associated with cloud computing. For CxOs, the focus is on achieving a balance between operational agility and comprehensive security.

Sector Adoption Score
To help executives and decision-makers assess the potential impact and value of a hybrid cloud data protection solution deployment to the business, this GigaOm Key Criteria report provides a structured assessment of the sector across five factors: benefit, maturity, urgency, impact, and effort. By scoring each factor based on how strongly it compels or deters adoption of a hybrid cloud data protection solution, we provide an overall Sector Adoption Score (Figure 1) of 4.2 out of 5, with 5 indicating the strongest possible recommendation to adopt. This indicates that a hybrid cloud data protection solution is a credible candidate for deployment and worthy of thoughtful consideration.

The factors contributing to the Sector Adoption Score for hybrid cloud data protection are explained in more detail in the Sector Brief section that follows.

Figure 1. Sector Adoption Score for Hybrid Cloud Data Protection

This GigaOm Key Criteria report highlights the capabilities (table stakes, key features, and emerging features) and nonfunctional requirements (business criteria) for selecting an effective hybrid cloud data protection solution. The companion GigaOm Radar report identifies vendors and products that excel in those decision criteria. Together, these reports provide an overview of the market, identify leading hybrid cloud data protection offerings, and help decision-makers evaluate these solutions so they can make a more informed investment decision.