Symantec announced it is delivering on its vision of easy-to-use, software as a service offerings for small and mid-sized businesses with the general availability of two Symantec Protection Network services. Symantec Online Backup provides customers with secure, reliable, online backup and recovery capabilities based on Symantec’s data protection technology, at a cost-effective price point. Symantec Online Storage for Backup Exec is integrated with Backup Exec 12, the industry standard in Windows data protection, creating a hybrid software as a service solution. Backup Exec customers can now immediately protect their critical data both onsite and offsite, for a total disaster recovery solution.

“Symantec Online Backup provides us with a good alternative to purchasing, configuring and maintaining an on-premises solution, which is a big benefit given our limited IT staff resources ,” said Blou Baker, network administrator, Tucker Rocky Distributing. “With Symantec Online Backup, we have a way to backup and protect our information online, strengthening our existing backup and recovery strategy and reducing the burden of dealing with tapes.”

Disaster recovery and data management continue to be two of the toughest challenges facing small and mid-sized businesses today and many businesses may not even be performing regular back-ups. Symantec Online Backup offers businesses added protection and peace of mind by backing up critical information to expertly managed, reliable data storage maintained in Symantec-operated data centers. In addition, businesses have the flexibility to browse their data files, manage their protection settings and initiate restores from anywhere via an easy-to-use web browser interface over the Internet.

"It is essential that we have redundant, reliable backup solution for mobile users and remote office staff. While we need enterprise-class protection, we have a small IT staff so our backup solution must also be easy to manage. In the past, this combination has been difficult to find,” said Christopher Booth, information technology director,” Telsco Industries dba Weathermatic. “Symantec Online Backup requires no up-front investment in hardware or software and provides us with a highly reliable backup solution that can easily fit into our existing IT data backup policies.”

With Symantec Online Storage for Backup Exec, Backup Exec 12 users can manage off-site storage for their backups from within Backup Exec and extend their disaster recovery capabilities. For the first time, businesses can use a single offering to backup and store data onsite with tape or disk and also securely store a copy of their data online for disaster recovery. Backup Exec customers can build upon their existing investments and back up processes while addressing the challenges of tape proliferation and complex onsite and offsite tape management. In addition, customers have the ability to tailor Symantec Online Storage for Backup Exec to meet their specific needs for storage capacity and data retention.

“Software as a service is very compelling for our customers and we look forward to expanding our portfolio of offerings with Symantec Protection Network”, said Dave Irvine, president, Irvine Consulting Services, Inc. “Symantec’s brand and reputation in security and availability coupled with their strong history of working with Symantec as a reseller, makes this a very attractive opportunity for Irvine Consulting Services, Inc.”

Symantec Protection Network is designed to provide a suite of IT infrastructure technologies via one platform with a common user experience, allowing customers to simplify IT administration and focus on running their businesses. Customers will have the simplicity of a single portal and registration, consolidated billing and one common customer support model. In addition, customers will benefit from Symantec’s strong history in providing technology solutions and online services. The Symantec Protection Network platform has also been fully audited by an independent third party to meet the industry leading standard of SAS70 Type II.

“Symantec is widely recognized as a leading provider of traditionally deployed backup, storage, and security technologies,” said Erin TenWolde, research manager with IDC. “Through Symantec Protection Network, Symantec officially enters the SaaS landscape and recognizes the benefits the delivery model can bring to companies of all sizes, including small and medium sized businesses."

“Symantec is committed to securing and managing customers’ environments through technologies that can be customized for the specific needs of small and mid-sized businesses,” said Jeff Hausman, vice president and general manager, Symantec Protection Network. “Symantec Protection Network extends the software as a service model to include critical infrastructure solutions that companies of all sizes need to prosper in today’s world.”