The Best Cloud Storage and Online Backup Services of 2023

Data loss can be devastating to a company. To prevent this nightmare scenario, many businesses use cloud storage and online backup services to protect their data. To help you determine which service is right for your business, we spent weeks researching and analyzing dozens of options. 

We looked at everything from price and storage space to security and scalability, selecting three services we think are best for specific business needs. You can read more about our choices and what you should consider when searching for a cloud storage or online backup service below.

Some companies offer cloud storage, some offer online backup, and some offer a combination of the two. You can expect to pay anywhere from just a few dollars a month to several thousand dollars a year. The price really comes down to how much storage you need and how many users you need to accommodate.

Storage capacity for basic plans starts at 500GB; higher-tier plans generally range from 5TB to 10TB. Most companies’ top-tier plans have a specified storage capacity, but many services will work with you to accommodate larger storage needs.

Before choosing a service and a plan, you must know how much storage you will need. Some companies charge overage fees that quickly add up. As part of your assessment, determine what type of information you will be backing up, as this helps determine how much storage you require and how dynamic the capabilities need to be.

Cloud storage and backup plans are often billed annually. Some companies offer month-to-month pricing, though the rates are higher. You might save extra by paying annually, biennially or even triennially. If you don’t see the plan length you need, contact a sales representative to see if they can create a custom plan for you.

Business cloud storage and online backup could be one of your most significant annual expenses, depending on your company’s team and data volume. To decide whether to invest so much in these services, ask yourself how valuable your company’s data is. What if it were permanently lost to malware, a natural disaster or another crisis?

Another thing to keep in mind as you evaluate costs is that cloud solutions can save you money you might otherwise have to spend on onsite servers, advanced cybersecurity and IT maintenance personnel.

Here are some other factors to consider when narrowing down your choices for a cloud storage or online backup solution.

Ease of Use

When considering any SaaS service, gauge whether the interface will be easy for employees without much technical knowledge to learn and use. It shouldn’t be complicated for someone with basic computer skills to set up a continuous backup schedule and recover data.

In our research, we found many services with user-friendly dashboards that let you organize data, schedule backups, manage group privileges, collaborate with team members, control security settings and more. Take advantage of demos and free trials – you’ll see firsthand whether an interface is a good match for your needs and team.

Backup and Storage Capabilities

Many online backup services double as cloud storage services, allowing you to store and share more files. Online backup services don’t normally let you store additional files beyond what is on the hard drive or server you’re backing up so you can make clean recoveries in case of an emergency.

Security

If your files contain sensitive data, encryption is a must. Many services offer 256-bit AES encryption, which meets the U.S. government’s requirements for handling sensitive data. Choose a company that takes security seriously; ask representatives about encryption and other measures they take to protect your data.

Performance

Some storage services offer different performance tiers. For example, in the event that you suffer a data loss and need your information back as soon as possible, you’ll want a service that allows you to perform fast recoveries. Also ask about any potential conflicts with bandwidth and throttling. You don’t want your internet speeds diminished because the system is backing up data, halting your everyday operations.

Collaboration Features

If you are strictly looking for online backup, collaboration may not be a concern for you. However, if you share documents frequently, look for convenient features that help you collaborate with team members or clients while maintaining tight security over your data. These features include password-protected links to share files, delivery notifications on accessed documents, link expiration dates, user and group management, feedback and approval options, and live chat.

Platform Capabilities

Each cloud service lets you upload, download and access files via internet browser. So, really, all you need is an internet connection to get to your data. However, some backup services only work on specific platforms, like Windows, Mac or Linux. Ensure that your service can accommodate the various platforms your business uses. If you have a highly mobile team, it may also be preferable to choose a service that offers an app for both iOS and Android devices.

Recovery Time

Cloud backup and recovery times can be impacted by network latency, which can extend your recovery time objective (RTO). Your RTO is the amount of time an application can be down without significant damage to a business and the time it takes for the system to go from loss to recovery. A service that focuses on recovery time can help your business avoid severe damage and data loss during various disasters, such as power outages, theft, corrupted servers and hard drives, cyberattacks, and exposure to ransomware. 

Scalability 

Besides analyzing your current cloud needs, project the potential growth of your business. Choose a cloud service that can scale up as your business grows.

“The cloud” has become an umbrella term for several different types of services, each having a distinct use.

Types of Cloud Services Available

There are various types of cloud services that you can incorporate into your business model.

If your primary goal is to back up and protect your data, you want a service that’s optimized for online backup, not a service geared for general-use storage. If you are looking for a solution to store and share all your business documents and media across various platforms, you need a service that focuses on storage and collaboration.

Online Backup

Businesses of any size that deal with computers and data should be practicing data backup in some form, and online backup services make this easier than ever. Cloud backup services don’t require additional hardware or IT expertise.

Public vs. Private Hosts

Web developers and businesses that need to store large amounts of data but can’t afford expensive servers can turn to cloud platforms to host their websites, development applications, databases, etc. Cloud hosting companies usually charge by how much data is uploaded and downloaded.

Long-Term Storage

Many businesses, for either financial or legal reasons, are required to maintain records for extensive periods of time. Cloud storage for long-term archiving is available from numerous providers. Usually dubbed “cold storage” or “archive storage,” this type of cloud storage is cheaper and provides higher capacity. This is because cold storage doesn’t have many sharing options, and users aren’t expected to be accessing and retrieving files very often.

File Storage, Sharing and Collaboration

This type of cloud service plays a more active role in a business’s day-to-day workflow. These services allow users to sync and share files without taking up computer disk space. Some services have free apps that allow you to draft and edit files in the cloud from your browser, but many businesses benefit from the security and advanced capabilities of paid solutions.

In addition to syncing files, many of these services are compatible with multiple devices, allowing you to use your desktop, laptop, tablet, and iOS or Android mobile devices for cloud backup. Some services have mobile apps that you can download directly from app stores.

Storing your files in the cloud gives you the flexibility to access them from anywhere. This allows your team to edit or share their work remotely, which can save valuable time and allow smoother project coordination.

Storing personal or business data in the cloud also offers many security benefits for your company data and sensitive files. Many cloud backup solutions include disaster recovery services, ransomware protection, increased server security, and protection against potential hackers and cyberattacks.

Here’s a list of the pros and cons of cloud storage and online backup, according to Adil Advani, digital marketing executive at PureVPN.

Pros of Cloud Storage

• Quick and easy access
• Accessibility anywhere, anytime
• Easy editing
• Automatic file sync 

Cons of Cloud Storage

• Internet connection required to access data
• High bandwidth required to back up large data
• Dependence on a third party 

Pros of Online Backup

• Protection and security
• Lower costs
• No need for hard drive backup
• Encryption 

Cons of Online Backup

• Lack of support
• Cyberattack risks
• Downtime
• Legal liability

Angelo Frisina is the founder and CEO of Sunlight Media LLC, a design agency that provides web development and digital marketing services throughout Los Angeles. He said his agency uses Unitrends for its online backup solution.

“Unitrends is an intelligent online data backup management solution that provides cloud storage and online backup service for my business,” Frisina said. “It has AI ransomware detection, all-in-one Recovery Series and Virtual Unitrends Backup appliances, and supports cloud services for DRaaS [disaster recovery as a service], SLAs [service-level agreements], AWS and Azure.”

Before ultimately choosing Unitrends, Frisina considered using Veeam. Through IBM Cloud, Veeam provides cloud disaster recovery options and more availability for data retrieval. Frisina decided not to go with Veeam because the backup solution lacks in ransomware protection and sells software individually.

While there are many benefits to cloud storage and online backups, Frisina says there are several risks to consider when choosing a backup service.

“The risks of using or not using a cloud storage or online backup are that data and information may be lost, stolen, or hacked if not implemented for the protection of your personal and business devices,” Frisina said. “Daily data capacity limits, lack of insurance if data stored is lost, and wrong methods of data transfers may provide faulty errors within the data.”

Kevin Rodrigues is the founder of Gardening Mentor, a website designed to help its readers learn more about growing their own food. Rodrigues’ company uses Google Drive for all its business data because it’s a cost-effective, secure solution under the umbrella of G Suite, Google’s cloud computing software equipped with numerous collaboration and productivity apps for business.

Rodrigues said that Gardening Mentor previously considered Mega as an alternative to Google Drive for its business data, because it had better pricing and advanced privacy and security features. In the end, though, he felt more comfortable with Google Drive’s integration tools and free Office suite.

Rodrigues said it’s important to back up files in the cloud so that your data is available if something goes wrong with your other devices.

“It’s also useful to be able to access your data independent of your devices,” he said. “Many backup solutions provide encryption, which helps secure your data.”

Our initial list of cloud storage and online backup services numbered 40 companies. We then narrowed down the list of contenders using the following factors:

• Rates and contract lengths
• Backup and storage size
• Security
• Scalability
• Usability, demos and free trials
• Collaboration and management features
• Cross-platform and mobile access
• Customer service
• Better Business Bureau ratings and accreditation
• Customer reviews and complaints

After much deliberation, we narrowed down our list to our 10 finalists: Acronis, Backblaze, BackupAssist, Barracuda, Carbonite, CrashPlan for Small Business, Egnyte, IDrive, Storage Guardian and Zoolz.

To arrive at our final best picks, we narrowed this list down to companies that provide first-class security and protection. Small businesses want great features at an affordable cost, so we also gave higher consideration to companies that offer superb customer support, flexible storage options and favorable pricing. We posed as small business owners and contacted our finalist companies to learn more firsthand about their services and the quality of their customer support. From these finer points, we settled on IDrive, Egnyte and Backblaze as our best picks.

Related Links:

https://www.business.com/articles/file-management-practices-small-business/

https://www.business.com/articles/small-business-document-management-system/

A cloud backup solution is an online service that stores and backs up data and applications on a remote server. Many businesses choose to back up to the cloud to keep files and data available in the event of a system crash, power outage, or natural disaster. You can use cloud backup solutions to send copies of physical or virtual files to team members or to a secondary, offsite backup location for preservation in case of equipment failure.