IBM simplifies online data backup for SMBs

SINGAPORE--IBM announced Wednesday plans to launch a new online data backup and recovery service that it said will help enhance business continuity plans for the country's small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs), at reduced costs.

Dubbed Shared Data Asset Deployment Model for SMBs, the new service will be offered as one of three deployment options available under Big Blue's Data Continuity Services for Data Backup and Recovery service suite, also known as Electronic Data Management.

The service is targeted at SMBs requiring half a terabyte (TB) to 2TB of data storage, and will be priced at a flat fee for connectivity, regardless of geographic location, said the company.

Customers can back up data directly from their production servers to their allocated storage capacity in the data center, located at IBM's recovery center, through a Web-based virtual private network (VPN), said Big Blue.

Large corporations can also opt for the "dedicated storage model", which will be available in two deployment options. Customers can choose to either back up their data from their production servers to the IBM recovery center or have IBM install a vault at their company site, that can be used as the local back up system, and deploy data replication in a secondary vault at IBM's service center as part of a disaster recovery plan.

Slated to be available across Asean and South Asia in the third quarter of this year, the Electronic Data Management solution will be launched first in Singapore, followed by Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia, Philippines and Vietnam, according to IBM.