In an exclusive conversation with CXO News & APAC News Network, Sandeep Bhambure, VP & MD, Veeam Software, India & SAARC emphasizes Veeam’s focus on Data Backup, Data Security, Data Recovery, Data Freedom, and Data Intelligence even as AI is becoming a critical consideration for future data recovery solutions.
What are the solutions and services in the Veeam Software portfolio in India?
Veeam Software’s portfolio in India offers a comprehensive suite of solutions and services that address diverse data protection and recovery needs across various platforms and workloads. This portfolio is structured into three primary categories: Veeam Data Platform, Veeam Data Cloud, and Workload-Specific Solutions.
Veeam Data Platform forms the core of Veeam’s offerings, enabling organizations to achieve robust data resilience strategies.
This includes:
• Data Backup: Reliable and secure backups that ensure critical information is preserved and readily accessible for quick restoration.
• Data Security: Advanced measures to protect against cyber threats, ransomware, and unauthorized access, ensuring data integrity and regulatory compliance.
• Data Recovery: Rapid restoration capabilities to minimize downtime and mitigate data loss effectively.
• Data Freedom: Seamless mobility of data across platforms and vendors without being tied to specific technologies, enhancing organizational agility.
• Data Intelligence: Utilization of AI and analytics to gain insights from data, improving operational efficiency and decision-making
Veeam Data Cloud specializes in cloud-centric solutions:
• Microsoft 365 Backup & Recovery: Safeguarding Office 365 data including Exchange Online, SharePoint Online, OneDrive for Business, and Microsoft Teams, ensuring continuous availability and compliance.
• Protection for Microsoft Azure: Native, policy-based solutions for Azure environments, featuring immutable backups, full- and file-level restores, and an API-first approach for resilience and cost-efficiency.
• Veeam Data Cloud Vault: Fully managed, secure cloud storage on Azure, simplifying infrastructure management with predictable cost models.
Workload-Specific Solutions cater to specific needs:
• Backup for Microsoft 365 and Salesforce: Ensuring comprehensive protection and fast recovery for critical SaaS data.
• Backup for Kubernetes, AWS, and Google Cloud: Native, policy-driven solutions for Kubernetes, AWS, and Google Cloud environments, supporting data resilience and business continuity.
How would you assess the critical nature of ransomware attacks on Indian enterprises currently and how are the Veeam solutions targeted to mitigate these challenges?
We are seeing a spate of ransomware attacks and India stands at a critical juncture in bolstering its cybersecurity resilience, particularly given its pivotal role in the global digital economy. The rise of Ransomware-as-a-Service (RaaS) has exacerbated the scenario.
According to the Ransomware Trends Report 2024, ransomware incidents remain a significant cause of IT outages, compromising up to 41% of data during cyber attacks. Unfortunately, recovery efforts typically restore only 57% of compromised data, which highlights the urgent need for robust defenses.
One of the approaches that Veeam has adopted is the Zero Trust model. This approach consists of three principles:
Least-privilege access: Access is restricted to what’s essential at the right time and with just enough access. This prevents lateral movement and unauthorized access to other network parts.
Verify explicitly: Departing from traditional “trust but verify” methods, this principle focuses on always authenticating and authorizing by using available information like user identity, location, devices, workload, data, etc.
Assume breach: Operating under the assumption that breaches will happen, Zero Trust prioritizes detection, response, and rapid recovery to minimize the impact of security breaches and the subsequent blast radius.
With our recent research showing that 96% of attacks target backup repositories, Veeam has extended this model to the Zero Trust Data Resilience model as the existing Zero Trust model is typically applied to an organization’s ecosystem with the exception of their backup environment.
The three Zero Trust Data Resilience core principles are:
• Separation of backup software and backup storage: Again, to minimize the attack surface and blast radius.
• Multiple resilience zones: Implement the 3-2-1 backup rule to maintain three copies of data across two different types of media, and with at least one copy held off-site.
• Immutable and encrypted backup storage: Protect backup data from modification or deletion.
These principles underpin all Veeam solutions to ensure that in the event of a ransomware attack, enterprises have a hardened backup repository they can instantly restore from and mitigate damage. In addition, Veeam employs several cyber resilience features within its solutions, such as in-line malware detection when managing backups.
As a data resilience company, Veeam partners with several security vendors to enable deep integration with Veeam solutions. In addition, Veeam has recently acquired Coveware, a leading provider of cyber-extortion incident response.
Coveware by Veeam provides forensics and remediation capabilities as part of Veeam Cyber Secure. This offering provides enterprises with pre-incident best practices and advanced onboarding support to prepare for any attack as well as access to comprehensive threat intelligence. Should an incident occur, Cyber Secure customers are covered under their Coveware by Veeam retainer, with an incident response team stepping in within 15 minutes to handle incident triage, negotiations, and recovery. Post-incident, Veeam provides a warranty of up to USD 5 million to assist customers with any data recovery expenses.
What would be your advice to CISOs on the best practices to be followed on data protection, resiliency, and cyber protection?
It is essential to adhere to fundamental best practices that have been advocated for years, even before the recent surge in cyber attacks. The practices are centered around the 3-2-1-1-0 protection rule. This rule entails maintaining three copies of data on two different media, with one copy stored offsite and one copy immutable. The ‘zero’ component signifies the importance of testing backup copies during peacetime to ensure they can be restored within the required timeframe. This practice is crucial because, in the event of a cyber attack, the ability to restore data swiftly and reliably is vital.
How does Veeam today differentiate itself uniquely in the highly competitive landscape?
What makes Veeam stand out is its singular focus on data resilience, consisting of Data Backup, Data Security, Data Recovery, Data Freedom, and Data Intelligence.
Data Backup allows businesses to protect their data as they need it, wherever they need it. Our ability to offer a comprehensive backup on-premises, or in the cloud, for workloads, or for services, forms the foundation that Veeam has built since its inception.
Data Security is paramount in today’s world, where relentless cyber-attacks necessitate robust protection. We work closely and form alliances with security companies, especially as more data professionals continue to stress that their teams must work better with security teams. Through inline malware detection and integrations with security partners, we offer customers and partners increased cyber resiliency – a subset of data resiliency – so that they remain protected and/or able to bounce forward from an attack.
Data Recovery enables us to recover exactly what our customers need when and where they need it, to our customers’ and partners’ restore point and restore time objectives. It allows them to stage and orchestrate how they can restore, and give them options on where they can restore, and at what level of granularity.
Data Freedom, powered by Veeam’s portable data format, allows businesses to protect all their data without vendor lock-in. This includes broad workload coverage, infrastructure observability for optimized reliability and costs, and multi-cloud mobility to move data across platforms with complete control and flexibility.
Data Intelligence enables businesses to make greater use of their data, whether that is using generative AI to manage their data, or through gleaning insights of data that has been backed up. With data sets otherwise underutilized when at rest, this gives businesses the ability to better put their data to work without compromising data in flight.
What are the key pillars on which Veeam’s GTM strategy rests in India? What are some of the key initiatives under this strategy?
Veeam’s GTM is centered around the strategic alignment of the sales team to focus on top-tier enterprises, ensuring comprehensive market coverage and engagement with key decision-makers. Veeam leverages a robust partner ecosystem comprising over 700 partners, including Reseller Alliance Ecosystem members like HPE, Cisco, and Lenovo, as well as Cloud Service Providers, Global System Integrators (GSIs), and Independent Software Vendors (ISVs).
Key initiatives that are foundational to Veeam’s strategy include deepening partnerships with cloud service providers to enhance service offerings and collaborating closely with ISVs for seamless integration and value-added services. The focus on high-growth sectors such as the public sector, government, and Banking and Financial Services (BFSI) underscores Veeam’s commitment to meeting sector-specific needs amidst ongoing transformation and regulatory demands. Moreover, Veeam aims to democratize access to its robust data protection solutions, ensuring organizations of all sizes can benefit from advanced capabilities in backup, recovery, and ransomware resilience.
By prioritizing these pillars and initiatives, Veeam aims to not only strengthen its market position but also empower businesses across India to navigate the complexities of data protection effectively, safeguarding critical assets and enabling swift recovery in the face of evolving cyber threats.
What is the overall channel structure that Veeam currently follows in India?
Veeam’s channel structure in India comprises over 3,000 resellers and distributors within the APJ region and includes Value-Added Resellers, Service Providers, Distributors and Aggregators, Global System Integrators, and Professional Services partners. The Veeam ProPartner Network program seeks to enhance partner profitability and resilience against cyber threats through various updates and benefits. These include improved partner margins, expanded deal registration eligibility, price protection for incumbent partners, and enhanced sales and technical training.
Veeam supports its partners with increased marketing resources and joint customer wins, facilitating collaboration through the Partner Xchange program. The ProPartner Network includes a robust network of 35,000 technology partners across 150 countries, delivering more predictable profit and success. Recent enhancements to the program emphasize partner profitability, shared success, and increased marketing and technical support, as endorsed by industry leaders such as IDC, Advizex, and American Digital.
How will you elaborate on the strategic partnership with Microsoft for enterprises using Kubernetes?
This partnership integrates Veeam Kasten with Microsoft Sentinel, endowing organizations with the ability to strengthen defenses against ransomware with features like Azure Blob immutability and enhanced visibility through RestorePoint. These innovations are designed specifically to meet the security needs of enterprises managing Kubernetes-native applications.
Furthermore, Veeam Kasten V7.0 provides robust support for Azure environments, delivering efficient backup and recovery solutions across a wide range of workload types deployed on Kubernetes. Our focus on enterprise-grade security and compliance is evident in our adherence to FIPS 140-3 guidelines, ensuring rigorous standards are met for federal and public sector environments. By deepening our integration with Microsoft and expanding capabilities in cloud-native platforms, Veeam aims to deliver scalable and resilient solutions that empower enterprises to navigate the complexities of modern IT landscapes with confidence.
How is AI/ML changing the nature of data recovery in enterprises?
Traditional backup methods are often seen as cumbersome and manual, and they are being replaced by intelligent systems that analyze operational data generated during backups, restores, and recovery tests. These systems use AI to adjust recovery priorities and schedules in compliance with service level agreements and optimize recovery time objectives.
This automation minimizes the need for manual intervention, enabling consistent tuning of the backup environment. As AI continues to evolve, its initial impact suggests substantial improvements in business outcomes, making the incorporation of AI a critical consideration for future data recovery solutions.
India is one of Veeam’s fastest-growing markets. How do you see the traction here across different verticals?
Our key focus areas in India include enterprises, BFSI (Banking, Financial Services, and Insurance), government, manufacturing, ITeS (Information Technology enabled Services), and PSUs (Public Sector Undertakings). The ITeS and BFSI segments are particularly strong, but Veeam’s business is well-distributed across all verticals.
The growing need for data protection and ransomware recovery is universal across verticals, driven by compliance and regulations like the DPDP Act, which imposes penalties of up to Rs 250 crore. With 50% of data on the cloud and the rest in virtual and physical environments, the challenge of protecting and recovering this data while maintaining agility is critical. Compliance, especially in healthcare, pharmaceuticals, and banking, will drive the demand for robust data protection solutions.
We also see substantial potential in the education sector, which needs to prioritize data protection more seriously. Educational institutions handle critical and vulnerable content, making data protection essential. Hence, we are launching an initiative to enlighten the education sector as to the importance of data protection so that these institutions can safeguard their valuable content effectively.
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