Veeam’s new data platform helps businesses fight ransomware

Veeam Software, the provider of modern data protection, has announced the Veeam Data Platform, a single platform delivering more advanced data security, recovery and hybrid cloud capabilities than ever before. 

The Veeam Data Platform, which includes Veeam Backup and Replication (VBR) v12, provides best-in-class secure backup and fast, reliable recovery that keeps business running. It combines the latest features offered by Veeam into a single robust solution offered in three enterprise-grade editions for protecting cloud, virtual, physical, SaaS and Kubernetes applications across complex and expanding IT environments and the increasing set of challenges facing every organization, from outages to errors and ransomware. 

Veeam Data Platform delivers the three key requirements to keep a business running: data security, data recovery, and data freedom to back up and uses data from anywhere without a platform or cloud lock-in. 

There are three enterprise-grade editions: Foundation, Advanced and Premium. 

All editions contain Veeam's award-winning VBR and Instant Recovery; Advanced and Premium editions also deliver advanced resiliency features, including monitoring, analytics and recovery.

Foundation Edition offers the industry's most complete data protection with VBR v12, which adds more than 500 new features and enhancements.

Advanced Edition combines VBR with Veeam ONE (ONE) to give customers deep, intelligent monitoring and observability to identify and resolve backup or recovery problems before they begin.

Premium Edition offers ultimate enterprise Modern Data Protection and recovery capabilities as the premier offering with VBR, ONE and Veeam Recovery Orchestrator (VRO). Building on the other editions, Premium adds the complete automation of complex data recovery processes with near-zero Recovery Point Objectives (RPOs) while automating testing and providing complete data resiliency with the confidence of one-click recovery. 

Premium edition customers are also eligible for the new Veeam Ransomware Warranty, which covers the cost of data recovery, up to US$5 million, in the event of a ransomware or cyber-attack.

"Organizations are more vulnerable than ever. Over the past twelve months, 85% of organizations were attacked at least once; up from 76% in last year," says Danny Allan, Chief Technology Officer and Senior Vice President of Product Strategy at Veeam. 

"We understand IT leaders feel they aren't sufficiently protected and as IT environments continue to grow more complex and demanding, it's now obvious that Modern Data Protection must be integrated into the overall cyber preparedness plan. The Veeam Data Platform brings the best of Veeam solutions together to deliver a single platform with relentless security, reliable data recovery and trusted data freedom, and is designed to give our customers the choice to leverage the right solution that fits their needs and keeps their business running."

All Veeam Data Platform's editions leverage the latest industry-leading backup and recovery technology of VBR v12 as its foundation. In addition, new functionality that advances enterprise-grade recovery capabilities ensures confidence in the face of disaster or cyber-attacks across the hybrid cloud, including new direct-to-object storage backups, cyber resiliency, trusted immutability for every workload, and optimization of hybrid cloud.

Veeam Universal Storage API 2.0 and NEW Smart Object Storage API provide even more future-proofing for enterprise scalability and offsite resiliency. Ecosystem vendors include Pure Storage, Scality and Object First as the inaugural launch partners that integrate with these new APIs.

Veeam's comprehensive monitoring and analytics solution delivers intelligent insights and visibility within the new Veeam Data Platform Advanced and Premium Editions to help identify and resolve issues before problems arise, ensuring the highest protection of critical data. 

The latest version expands on new capabilities and includes support for more Veeam backup solutions, including Veeam Backup for Microsoft 365. In addition, new monitoring and visibility capabilities include immutability reporting and data protection statuses for multi-cloud. These new advances deliver more value and insight into businesses' data protection strategies.

The new Veeam Data Platform Premium Edition also includes recovery orchestration, one of the most powerful tools to reduce recovery time, delivering confidence in business resiliency. Businesses can simplify operations and prove backup compliance by automating planning, testing and orchestrating the steps needed to recover from a disaster. 

The Veeam Data Platform now delivers automated, orchestrated recovery to Microsoft Azure, instant restoring Veeam Agents backups as virtual machines (VMs), and an automated recovery rollback for clean, ransomware-free data recoveries.

Platform extensions may be added to any Veeam Data Platform editions or operated standalone, including backup for Kubernetes with Kasten K10 by Veeam, Veeam Backup for Microsoft 365, and Veeam Backup for Salesforce.

"52% of businesses are now utilizing containers in production environments. Kasten K10 by Veeam has emerged as the leader in providing backup, disaster recovery, and application mobility solutions for containers operating in Kubernetes environments. The new Veeam Data Platform provides organizations with a centralized solution that offers seamless data protection operations and investment protection, while also addressing the unique requirements of Kubernetes environments, giving organizations ultimate data freedom," says Gaurav Rishi, Vice President of Product Management, Kasten by Veeam.

As the go-to partner in ransomware recovery, Veeam takes a multi-layered approach to ransomware so that businesses are confident and prepared for worst-case scenarios. The new Veeam Ransomware Warranty, which complements the Veeam Data Platform, is a commitment to Veeam customers that in the event of a ransomware attack, Veeam will cover the cost of data recovery, up to US$5 million. 

For eligible users, the Veeam Ransomware Warranty includes a 30-minute support service level agreement (SLA), a dedicated support account manager, quarterly health checks for best-practice operations, and optional design and installation services through a Veeam Accredited Service Provider. In addition, Veeam will deploy the Veeam Ransomware SWAT team, a dedicated team of security support experts trained in ransomware recovery, to help businesses in the event of an attack.

"As hybrid cloud becomes the deployment architecture of choice, and cyber security threats become pervasive, the need to robustly provide backup and replication is crucial to enterprises. Veeam has been a market leader in this space, and the new Veeam Data Platform launch demonstrates the company's commitment to innovation," says Steven Dickens, Senior Analyst Futurum Research.

"Ransomware is a top concern for all organizations and backups are increasingly becoming the number one target. The newly released Smart Object Storage API in the new Veeam Data Platform enables Veeam users to send their backup data directly to Object First's immutable and reliable ransomware-proof storage. By combining Veeam with Object First, organizations can rest easy knowing their backups are ransomware-proofed with a simple, powerful, and affordable data protection solution," adds David Bennett, Chief Executive Officer of Object First.

"With the new Veeam Data Platform we can orchestrate recovery directly to public cloud, reducing our costs and overall footprint by completely removing the need for additional equipment," concludes Robbie Hudec, Senior Vice President, Technology Operations, Ciox Health.