Sector voices on strategies for storage and data protection.
Pawel Staniec, CTO, Catalogic
“Digital ecosystems are evolving at an unprecedented pace in 2025. Seeing that, World Backup Day is a great opportunity to reflect on both past and future data protection strategies. At Catalogic Software, and particularly through CloudCasa, we are witnessing how advancements in AI and self-hosted LLMs and virtualization in Kubernetes environments are reshaping backup approaches. The dynamic nature of containerized workloads now necessitates the augmentation of traditional disaster recovery methods.
Cloud-native data protection solutions that integrate seamlessly with Kubernetes have become essential, ensuring intelligent orchestration of virtualized environments. Moreover, seamless application mobility is crucial for Kubernetes workloads, enabling dynamic orchestration and real-time scaling across clusters and cloud environments.
It is important to remember that cloud-native solutions do not diminish the value of conventional backup techniques. Robust backup strategies remain critical for ensuring data integrity and enabling recovery after unexpected data loss or corruption. Together, these complementary approaches form a comprehensive framework that enhances operational resilience and secures the long-term viability of modern, containerized environments.”
Gal Naor, CEO, StorONE
“All-flash storage is often thought of as the best solution for data backup. But the reality is that it is an expensive and unnecessary investment for most organizations. Backup data must be reliable and quickly recoverable but should not be stored on the most expensive media.
Hybrid storage solutions that intelligently tier data between flash and disk can offer a more balanced approach. Flash can be used for critical recovery points, while older snapshots and backups can reside on lower-cost disk storage. This tiering ensures rapid recovery without the excessive costs of maintaining an all-flash backup infrastructure.
On World Backup Day, organizations should rethink their backup strategies to prioritize efficiency, not just speed. Cost-effective, scalable solutions that optimize both performance and long-term data retention are the key to unlocking modern data backup without unnecessary expense.”
Aron Brand, CTO, CTERA
“Most of the world still treats backup as a daily ritual, as if we’re stuck in the mainframe era , where losing a site means scrambling for tapes or off-site backups and waiting days to get back online. But why settle for that in 2025?
Today, you shouldn’t be looking at backup solutions; you should be thinking about cyberstorage: storage that’s inherently cyber-protected, with continuous data protection and instant recovery using hybrid cloud. The technology exists today, but we have to break free from legacy thinking. Backup shouldn’t be a safety net you fall back on—it should be built in, always on, and ready when you need it.”
Mitch Seigle, Chief Marketing Officer, at Spectra Logic
“World Backup Day serves as a reminder that data protection is essential to every organization. In a time when cyber threats are more aggressive than ever, a proactive approach to safeguarding critical information must be in place for everyone. A well-structured backup and archiving strategy ensures not just recovery, but business continuity in the face of disruption.
While cyber security tools continue to evolve, there is also a critical role for tape technology in safeguarding data. This tried-and-true technology offers an added layer of security, further enhanced by an air gap that keeps data physically isolated from online threats, making it a valuable part of a modern resilience strategy.
No single solution is foolproof but combining a strong cyber security solution with regular backups and layered security measures gives organizations their best shot at staying protected.
Cyber threats will likely continue to evolve, but businesses that prioritize overall cyber security can navigate the digital landscape with confidence. This World Backup Day, it is important to take a moment to assess whether your data protection strategy is truly built to thwart the next cyberattack.”
Anthony Spiteri, Regional CTO APJ, Veeam
When World Backup Day was first introduced in 2011, backup was considered a passive safeguard – an insurance policy for businesses in case of accidental deletion or a natural disaster. Fast forward to today, and backups alone are no longer enough. Cybercriminals have adapted, targeting backups themselves in ransomware attacks, making traditional backup strategies insufficient unless they are part of a larger data resilience framework.
The modern cybersecurity landscape demands proactive data resilience, a strategy that ensures backups remain protected, accessible, and rapidly recoverable in the face of an attack.
Key components of this include:
- Immutable backups: Cybercriminals are now targeting both data availability and confidentiality – two critical pillars of the CIA triad (Confidentiality, Integrity and Availability). With 87% of ransomware attacks in Q4 2024 involving data exfiltration, companies must ensure they have immutable backups that cannot be altered or deleted
- Automated threat detection: Backups should not be passive archives. Continuous scanning for anomalous activity allows businesses to identify and mitigate threats before they escalate
- Rapid recovery capabilities: A backup is only useful if it can be restored quickly. Organisations must regularly test recovery processes and implement orchestration to streamline business restoration
Cyber resilience is no longer optional; it’s essential for business survival. Organisations that fail to modernise their backup and recovery strategies risk not only operational downtime but also reputational damage, regulatory penalties, and financial loss.
James Finlay, Lead Director of Incident Response APJ, Coveware by Veeam
Organisations need to rethink their backup and recovery strategies, not just as an operational necessity but as a compliance requirement.
Governments worldwide are stepping in with stricter regulations to improve cyber resilience. The Australian Cyber Security Act is a prime example, mandating businesses with an annual turnover exceeding $3 million to report any ransomware payments to the Australian Signals Directorate. Aimed at increasing transparency, this legislation also encourages businesses to take more proactive measures to avoid a ransomware payment, as disclosing payments may result in greater regulatory scrutiny and reputational damage.
Mandatory ransomware reporting is forcing businesses to rethink their entire cybersecurity posture. The best way to avoid both financial and legal repercussions is to ensure a robust backup and recovery strategy that eliminates the need for ransom payments in the first place.
Beyond mandatory reporting, many industries are now required to implement proactive cybersecurity measures such as:
- Routine backup testing to ensure recoverability in real-world attack scenarios
- Data encryption to prevent data leaks and exfiltration
- Endpoint security to secure backup repositories against compromise
With the changing cybersecurity landscape and growing legal pressures, backup and recovery are no longer ‘nice to have’, it must evolve into a comprehensive data resilience strategy. Not only will this bring together data backup, recovery, security, portability, and intelligence, it’s essential to ensure compliance and business continuity.
