Phoenix has announced the launch of its cloud-to-cloud backup service, following its first customers roll-out in the UK. Salesforce.com has chosen to back up its customer data to its own secure data store, which allows them to dictate the precise terms and conditions of their back-up.

The new Phoenix Cloud-to-Cloud Data Backup accesses users’ cloud-stored data through an application programming interface (API) and enables Salesforce’s customers to choose the granularity, regularity, retention rules and encryption of backups.

“End users must understand that it is always their responsibility to back up their own data that is stored in the cloud, from both compliance and a business perspectives,” says Phoenix managing director of business continuity, Mike Osborne. “Even if a cloud service features back-up capability, that does not mean that you can recover your data and applications quickly. They won’t necessarily be backed up to the time immediately before the outage, either.”

“That is because the cloud model does not lend itself to individual contracts and variable terms and conditions, so end users have previously had to sacrifice the option of flexible and fast backups. That is fine for non-core business systems, but it presents a major problem for hosting critical line-of-business applications in the cloud.

“Phoenix Cloud-to-Cloud data backup has been designed to overcome this specific issue, by giving Salesforce.com’s customers the option of dictating their own terms over how often backups are performed, what level of data is backed up, and time limits for full restoration,” Osborne adds.

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