IT Briefcase Exclusive Interview: Overcoming the Big Data Backup Challenge with Symantec NetBackup

In the below interview, Simon Jelly from Symantec Information Management Group outlines the primary benefits of an integrated data protection platform, and offers pointers for businesses trying to juggle the increased speed, volume, and variety of data that Big Data brings to the table.

• Q. What are the key benefits of utilizing one data protection solution on one platform?

A. The use of multiple point solutions for data protection leads to increased complexity and redundancy. By utilizing one solution, on one platform, organizations are able to lower costs, standardize solutions and simplify data management and protection. Focusing on a platform approach:

– Reduces capital investment – you no longer need multiple infrastructures to run your data protection solutions
– Reduces operating costs – you only need to train people on and support one solution
– Ensures SLAs met – complexity is reduced as SLAs are managed consistently through one solution

• Q. What advice can you offer to businesses trying to juggle the increased speed, volume, and variety of data that Big Data brings to the table?

A. When it comes to Big Data, one size doesn’t fit all. There are very different use cases that Big Data solutions can be utilized for and the level of speed, volume and variety varies greatly across each of these use cases. From a data protection perspective, as businesses look to leverage Big Data for these varying use cases, it is important to have a solution like NetBackup that has a proven track record in providing mission critical data protection and which has the flexibility to offer multiple options to tackle the challenge of speed, volume and variety of data.

• Q. What steps should organizations be taking to help prepare their IT departments for managing and processing Big Data?

A. While organizations are keen to harness the promise of Big Data to drive better and faster business decisions, organizations should not overlook the complexity it brings in being able to manage the volume of data that needs to be protected. As Big Data solutions become more critical to driving the overall business, maintaining uptime of these systems becomes more and more critical. We are developing solutions, like our SAP HANA integration, to ensure we provide customers the necessary tools to solve these volume and complexity challenges, while continuing to deliver robust and reliable backup and recovery.

• Q. With so many new tools and technologies available today, enterprise data frequently ends up residing within many silos. What steps are Symantec taking to help organizations solve the Big Data Backup challenge?

A. Siloed data can become a huge challenge for organizations that choose to go with point solutions. NetBackup is one integrated data protection platform that allows for visibility across data, no matter where it is located. NetBackup knows where the data resides, and whether it is archived, backed up, or even in production. NetBackup allows organizations to manage data protection across silos and ultimately reduce cost and increase operational effectiveness with regards to backup and recovery.

• Q. How can the recent certification of Symantec NetBackup with SAP HANA increase agility, flexibility, and business value for organizations today?

A. In-memory databases are changing the landscape, enabling organizations to process both transactional and analytical workloads at incredible speeds, allowing for more agile data driven, business decisions. However, data residing in these databases is volatile, so having a good protection method that enterprises can trust is actually increasing the value of in-memory technologies and making it more robust.

As the first third-party backup solution fully certified by SAP to support HANA, NetBackup gives organizations the ability to backup SAP HANA directly to the NetBackup platform. Automating the backup process reduces the chances of human error, making it easier to enjoy the benefits of HANA, deriving actionable information in near real time, without worrying about potential data loss.

Simon Jelley, Senior Director of Product Management, Symantec Information Management Group

Simon Jelley serves as Senior Director of Product Management for the Symantec Information Management Group where he is responsible for business strategy, product planning, go-to-market strategy and field enablement for the enterprise market, specifically supporting NetBackup and Enterprise Vault product families. These products form a key part of Symantec’s Information Management portfolio, which delivers industry-leading solutions for data protection, archiving, information retention and electronic discovery.

Jelley was a founder member of KVS and prior to this worked for Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC) where Enterprise Vault was first developed. Simon joined Symantec as part of the acquisition of Enterprise Vault into Veritas. During his time with KVS, Simon worked as a QA Engineer, Support Analyst, Consultant and Technical Specialist on the Enterprise Vault product.