AVG Branches Out, Offers Secure Cloud Backups

AVG Technologies, best known for its IT security and anti-malware products, has expanded its cloud solutions slate with a new online backup service.

The new offering, called AVG CloudCare with Online Backup (OLB) offers small businesses secure, online storage of their critical data. The move comes as the company takes its IT and security know-how and ventures beyond antivirus to provide small and midsized businesses (SMBs) with easy-to-manage technology services, according to Mike Foreman, general manager of AVG’s small business division.

“Two years ago, we made a strategic decision to focus on small businesses,” Foreman told Small Business Computing. His company “moved away from pure antivirus,” and into areas where the company can leverage its “security DNA,” which protects the data of 172 million people.

Expanding Small Business Security

The AVG CloudCare provides antivirus, email security, content filtering and remote management and monitoring. Now online data backup joins the list.

AVG CloudCare OLB, available via the company’s reseller network, addresses some of the major, largely self-imposed roadblocks that small businesses face when using IT solutions. Despite their obvious benefits, many small businesses can’t help but drag their feet.

In a study of 500 North American small business owners and managers, AVG discovered that compared to performing backups, more than a third of respondents (37 percent) invest more time tidying up their desks or ordering new business cards (21 percent). Most (75 percent) small businesses rely on automated backup systems, yet 24 percent don’t push their employees to back up at least once a week.

In a statement, Foreman argued that “while the great majority of small businesses in North America are relatively savvy about the importance of backup, there is still plenty of market education to do, especially when it comes to mobile and cloud platforms.” The company’s research also suggests that “despite evidence [that] cybercriminals see value in small business data, business owners themselves still fail to appreciate the true value of the data held within their systems.”

Meanwhile, cloud providers fail to inspire trust among small business. Sixty-four percent of those surveyed expressed concerns about the security of cloud-based backup.

No need to worry with AVG CloudCare OLB, said Foreman. Backups sent to the service are encrypted “right on your device and encrypted the minute it leaves your device,” he assured. At no time can raw, unencrypted data get intercepted. For added security, files sent to AVG are automatically scanned for malware before their compressed and stored.

Managed service providers need only switch on AVG CloudCare OLB to enable the automated backup solution for their customers. In addition to file backups, it offers integrated ShadowProtect bare metal backup to protect database and email servers.

Pedro Hernandez is a contributing editor at Small Business Computing. Follow him on Twitter @ecoINSITE.

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