Vintage82

If it isn't already deployed, CentraStage is pretty cheap. Would allow you to provide the remote support but also give you a host of other functionality.

Seems to look that way, but can't say I have ever come across the parent company (PraTech UK Ltd) in my time to comment too much.

TGG - Reading the website suggests the technology behind the service is Livedrive.

There are a good amount of differences between backup providers - it seems everyone is focusing on the price comparison as opposed to comparing the technologies/functionality/benefits delivered. I work for one of the backup vendors that have been mentioned in this thread - We always ask prospective customers to make sure they are comparing like for like and ask potential providers a range of questions which I've included a few below. In fact, I only know of one other cloud backup organisation focused on the education market who prompt customers to ask similar questions. I'd say if your prospective backup partner can't provide the info, you should be going elsewhere... The Technology • Is the service encrypted? At source? • Deduplication/compression included? • How long does the service retain your data for? Is this flexible or does it incur extra cost? • Does the service provide support for application plug-ins? SIMS, Exchange, SQL etc. • How does the pricing model work? Is the price for the data only or are their separate costs? E.g. server licencing, restore costs • Does the service provide automated reporting options? • Does the service provide a central console for all backup accounts? • Does the service provide options for large backups or restores? The Company • What other schools use the service? • Will you be billed on data selected, or data stored? • How many copies of the data are kept? • What type of storage is the data kept on? SAN/NAS, enterprise disk or hard drives • Do they provide Service Level Agreements? • Where is the data stored? If the data isn’t stored in the UK, what laws in that country exist around data protection? • How quickly can you get your data back in an emergency? • Do they own their own datacentres? • Do they use their own backup technology or resell another service? • If the company goes bust, how can you get your data back? • If the technology provider goes bust, how can you get your data back? • Are they ISO accredited? ISO9001 (Quality Management) and/or ISO27001 (Information Security)? • Is it a subsidiary company of a larger business?

I've not heard of Oftsed getting funny about data encryption, however I do know that the Schools Financial Value Standard talks about getting business critical data offsite on a daily basis... if you're taking removable media offsite, then yes you have to encrypt it, as per the Data Protection Act (enforced by the ICO). This is only relevant to LA maintained schools however and not often mentioned to key staff in schools as the Governors fill it in. The Academies Financial Handbook did mention secure locations for backup, but then went on to talk about floppy disks for backup... in the 2013 revision it doesn't seem to worry much about backup of data at all.

Hi All, I work for an education facing technology provider and have spoken to a number of schools, both at BETT and over the phone in regards to policy and legislation that schools must adhere to, but seem unaware of. The Schools Financial Value Standard (SFVS) is a 23 point guide that is completed by school governors and has to be returned to the LA by the 31st March. Point 23 of the standard asks that you have an "Appropriate business continuity or disaster recovery plan". The sub-notes (link below) say that schools must have a daily offsite backup of the schools critical data. Many people are happy to transport hard drives or tapes offsite (still), which is fine - HOWEVER, if the admin data is being taken offsite it must be encrypted as per the Information Commissioners Office (ICO) guidelines for encryption. For those who don't know, the ICO is the enforcement body for breaches of the Data Protection Act. A lot of people are now being caught out for not encryption data relating to staff or pupils and face ICO audits (undertakings), fines of up to £500,000 or criminal prosecutions. In any case, the details are listed on the ICO website for all to see as a 'name and shame' list. As I said, many people don't seem to be aware of either the SFVS requirement for backups to go offsite and/or the ICO requirement for encryption so I thought I would share. Documentation is below: Best Regards, Matt SFVS - Point 23 sub-notes link (document download) - http://media.education.gov.uk/assets/files/doc/q/appropriate continuity or disaster recovery plan.doc ICO guidelines to encryption - Our approach to encryption ICO enforcement - Enforcement - Data Protection, Freedom of Information, Electronic Marketing - ICO