Updated Q3 2011: Backup Versus Archiving: Firms Need Separate Strategies For Each

"What's the difference between a backup and an archive?" and "Do I need to have separate backups and archives?" are two common questions that Forrester receives from enterprise clients. Despite the fact that neither backup nor archiving are new concepts, there's a still a significant amount of confusion between the two. Although it's been several years since we first produced this report, the best practices for establishing backup and archiving have not changed. What has evolved are the technologies that enable backup and archiving: Disk deduplication has become more prevalent, tapes have become much denser, adoption of cloud-based archiving approaches has accelerated, and new data classification and eDiscovery platforms make it easier to find the information needed in a timely manner.