The News:
HYCU previews R-Cloud, a low-code, cloud-delivered platform that allows third-party software-as-a-service (SaaS) independent software vendors (ISVs) to create HYCU-based, native data protection capabilities. The new offering provides IT Operations with graphical visualization of unprotected assets. R-Cloud services are available through the Protégé Marketplace. It is slated for General Availability in April 2023. The complete press release is available on HYCU.com.
Evaluator Group Take:
What Does this Address for IT Operations?
Adoption of data protection is growing for a select collection of the world’s most popular SaaS applications. According to Evaluator Group’s Trends in Enterprise Data Protection 2023 study, more than half of enterprises are protecting Microsoft 365, and approximately one in four are protecting another SaaS app – which typically includes Salesforce or Google Workspace. When we look outside of these market juggernauts, however, the development – and, subsequently, the uptick – of enterprise data protection solutions is lagging. This is not surprising when we consider how splintered this marketplace is, especially when the spattering of industry-specific apps is factored in (HYCU cites more than 17,000 SaaS apps in use across organizations today). Simply put, these SaaS ISVs are not in the business of providing enterprise data protection, and it is not realistically feasible for data protection vendors to keep up with the sprawl of this landscape.
Since its inception protecting Nutanix virtualized environments, one of HYCU’s leading differentiators has been its native approach to data protection, allowing its software to fully capitalize the source environment’s unique capabilities and features. R-Cloud will allow HYCU to maintain this approach, without encumbering HYCU with the burden of developing data protection software for the large and diverse suite of SaaS applications growing in use by enterprises. It also allows for a faster development time for enterprise-grade data protection functionalities, (e.g., policy-based backup, granular and self-service recoveries, and security capabilities such as encryption and immutability), versus the SaaS ISV taking on soup-to-nuts development.
Another prominent challenge and complexity in this market is that, by and large, these apps are adopted by lines of business, outside of IT’s control and oversight. It becomes very difficult for IT to be aware of everything that is in use. It also creates the need for streamlined and simplified adoption. This is where R-Cloud’s graphical visualization tool and its cloud marketplace-based adoption come in to play.
Areas to Watch
R-Cloud is new, and it is unique in the marketplace. HYCU did announce Atlassian and Okta – both investors in HYCU – as partners at launch. We will be watching carefully to see the adoption of data protection offerings by the SaaS providers. To date, most SaaS providers have avoided tackling the additional risk of protection, expecting their users to implement their own protection. However, the R-Cloud announcement could be strategic especially from the standpoint of enabling small-to-mid-size SaaS providers to deliver an end-to-end solution.
It is possible that R-Cloud could nurture synergistic technology relationships for HYCU. At a minimum, Evaluator Group anticipates that R-Cloud will help HYCU to keep a pulse on customers’ quickly evolving data protection requirements for SaaS applications, ultimately helping to guide its product roadmap.
For More Information:
Access Evaluator Group’s HYCU Product Brief and Data Protection Software EvaluScale Comparison Matrix on http://evaluatorgroup.com.
Disclosure: Evaluator Group, wholly owned by The Futurum Group, is a research and analyst firm that engages or has engaged in research, analysis and advisory services with many technology companies, including those mentioned in this article. The author does not hold any equity positions with any company mentioned in this article. Analysis and opinions expressed herein are specific to the analyst individually.
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