Traditionally, most companies have relied on tape, a technology that's been around for nearly a half century. While inexpensive, tape poses many security problems that could put business information at risk. It's slow and prone to error -- tape backups that fail to record the data correctly are far from uncommon. Moreover, it's vulnerable to theft or loss during transport, and damaged, misplaced, lost or stolen cartridges can present a big problem if data recovery is required. Entrusting backup to employees unfamiliar with the process--or not interested in the task--is a recipe for error and neglect. Even storage vaults are not always safe.

In today's environment, the privacy stakes are even higher. No fewer than 31 states require companies to notify consumers when their unencrypted data is breached. This makes the case for online backup, which has always been compelling, even more attractive. And IT managers are catching on to the benefits of online backup. According to Gartner, 80 percent of businesses will be off of tape within the next 10 years. As IT managers look more closely at online backup, they should look for the following features to better protect and safeguard sensitive data:

• Data Encryption
• When to Encrypt
• No Transmission Lag
• Central Management
• Managed Service
• Data Integrity Checks
• Data Compression