“Dataquest Insight: Cloud-Based Server Backup Services, 2Q09 Update” by Adam W. Couture is a good feature-by-feature (including pricing) comparison of a dozen of major online backup solutions for the enterprise space.

Backup might initially sound like the worst cloud application you can think of: after all it involves big data transfers and most likely the data about which you care the most – and thus for which you have the biggest security and liability concerns.

Yet, backup and recovery products (and obviously migration solutions) are normally the first ones to emerge in any new markets – the pain is much more obvious than whatever management tasks you might also have – so the cloud market is no exception. Also, specifically in the cloud space there is an additional bonus of the backup data being by definition in a remote location – and thus safe from natural disasters which might hit your local datacenter.

Gartner survey is a great source of information if you are considering buying an online backup service or going to the market with one. It seems to be a rapidly evolving space with major players entering the market and solutions advancing from simple file storage to those including standby emergency environments and virtualization support. The report helps you make sense of who is doing what and how much is that going to cost you. A very good read indeed.

You can buy the full report here.

[UPDATE] Just stumbled upon this (relatively) old post of mine and noticed that obviously neither the post nor the Gartner report had a mention of the (not existent at that point) Quest OnDemand Recovery for Active Directory – specialized SaaS backup and granular rollback solution with which I was personally involved. It is also an interesting example of how cloud lets more specialized and focused backup products get to the market and succeed.