Last week we learned that online backup provider, and KeepVault competitor, Carbonite had filed a form S-1 with the SEC, a proposal for an Initial Public Offering (IPO) of their stock. Estimates have them looking to raise USD$100m. But it was the content of the filing that generated most of the emails/calls to my desk; over 1m customers, losses of USD$25m in 2010, and last quarter revenues of USD$12.8m.

Acceptance

We're hugely excited to see an IPO in our industry; a hopeful sign of acceptance and maturity in a business where KeepVault's 5-year track record makes us elder statesmen! As fear of cloud based backup continues to dissipate and services improve, so the market is consolidating (mostly) around strong companies with solid business plans.  Carbonite's ~1m users makes them one of the largest online backup services, and to paraphrase 'things are just getting going'!  Their last quarter revenue of $12.8m is certainly impressive and again talks to the increasing rate of acceptance. KeepVault has seen approximately 70% yearly growth, almost entirely through word-of-mouth 'advertising' (BIG thank you to our loyal customers!).

Similarities and Differences

While KeepVault and Carbonite are both in the Online Backup business there are significant differences in the two services.  An article today in The Register asks why now and why Carbonite? Why isn't Nirvanix (an online storage provider) filing for an IPO?

The Register proposes that Carbonite needs money to sustain their current business model, e.g. the 'land grab' approach reminiscent of Web 1.0: give the service away and spend any revenues on attracting the next customer.  Carbonite and some other services (livedrive, Backblaze et al) offer 'unlimited' storage, for one computer, for a low monthly fee.  The downside for Carbonite? Significant $ loss each quarter and for the foreseeable future (according to the Carbonite IPO filing).

As Mozy recently announced, 'unlimited' storage is not sustainable; the growth in customer storage is fast outpacing any reductions in storage costs.  Hence, Mozy has adopted a pay-for-use model similar to that offered by KeepVault for the past ~3 years. Not to toot our own horn, but it didn't take a rocket scientist to see that unlimited plans, while an easy way to attract new customers, were not the key to long term success.

Summary

Many companies offer online backup, but how many are in it for the long term? Do you want to re-upload your data every time your provider runs out of money? KeepVault's pricing is, we believe, walking the fine line between feeding our families and protecting the digital memories/files etc you entrust to us; there are no investors looking to cash-out or reap huge returns on investment, and no questionable business models.  Backup is about conserving, and we're taking a conservative approach!

The online backup space can't stay out of the news these days!!  Last week we heard about Carbonite's plans for an IPO (more on that in another post). Today we learned the fate of the Iron Mountain online backup business; it will be acquired by Autonomy, a large European software company, for the not insignificant sum of $380m.

http://www.techcrunchit.com/2011/05/16/autonomy-buys-iron-mountain’s-digital-archiving-online-backup-business-for-380m/

What is the KeepVault Affiliate & Reseller Program?

Earn money by promoting the KeepVault service to your customers or via your website, newsletter, blog, Facebook, tweets etc.
Perfect for IT service/support companies, computer/IT builders and resellers, technology reviewers and bloggers!

Two Ways to Make Money

1. Promote KeepVault via a unique referral URL and earn a recurring 15% commission
2. Resell KeepVault as a value-added service to your existing customers + recurring 15% commission

sign up here

How to Resell KeepVault

1. Signup for your reseller account sign up here

2. Purchase a KeepVault Pro account (you can start small at grow the storage size at any time)

3. Use the sub-account feature to set aside a portion of storage for each customer, e.g. reserve 20GB for customer A, 50GB for customer B etc

4. Install and setup the KeepVault software at each client's location

5. Charge your client/customer a value-add price for providing this service e.g. resell consulting/support service at $100/hour, etc

6. Easily manage and monitor your customers via the admin web console

Admin & Management Features (e.g. sub-accounts)

The KeepVault Pro software allows you to password lock the client software so only an administrator can change settings or restore files. The software is designed to be highly configurable, allowing control over what is backed up, when, and how much bandwidth each device uses.

new Included with KeepVault Pro is a web-based admin console. From the console you can create sub accounts within your main account:

• easily letting you section-off data for different departments within the company, or for different clients/customers.
• this caps the storage for that account, lets you monitor their usage and status reporting individually and prevents unauthorized access
• backup 'health' reports for each sub account and the devices within that sub account are also available via the web console.

Web access to data is also included at no additional cost; to enhance security, the administrator must activate this feature via the online admin console.

Get Started Now

1. Try out KeepVault Pro and see if it will work for you

2. Sign up for your reseller account sign up here

Like many of you, the DropBox service has come in handy on more than one occasion. However, an interesting article on bnet.com (read here) raises the question 'how secure is your data on DropBox'?

Having read the article a couple of times now, and the responses from DropBox, I'm not quite sure of the answer!  It sounds like there are procedures in place to protect user data, but it doesn't rule out the risk of someone breaking procedure?  My main question; is DropBox storing the user's encryption key online somewhere?  I have a feeling that the answer is 'yes'.

Like some other backup companies, KeepVault doesn't store the encryption key online. You don't need procedures if you don't know the key.  Perhaps this is the difference between a product designed from the outset to be a secure online backup solution, and one that was designed to be a file sharing platform.

Just saying ...

Version 4.0 of KeepVault.com data backup service available now; fastest data backup and recovery, intelligent file versioning and differential uploads, higher encryption levels, file protection queue manager, improved web access and account management, support for new Microsoft 2011 Server Platforms. Prices start from under $4/month, with no per computer fees, free trial available.

Read the full press release via the link below

http://www.prweb.com/releases/keepvault/onlinebackup/prweb5222944.htm

Developing your own backup technology, whether it is for local backup to a hard drive/network storage device or for secure online backup, is no small feat.  Many companies looking to create their own solution confess to thinking (initially) “backup is easy right? A 3 or 4 month project at most!”

The truth is that after about 4-6 months you’ll be starting over; realizing all the problems with your original design, bogged down by the minutiae, the very necessary details that are so very important when protecting data.  After all, this isn’t so much an exercise in developing a software solution as it is about protecting people’s digital lives/livelihoods. Creating and maintaining trust requires a quest for perfection, not simply ‘good enough, job done’. This is where experience counts. Our prior careers were working for the likes of VERITAS and Seagate Software; and after five years on the market, KeepVault is one of the more stable and mature offerings available.

So when a major US-based PC company was looking to create a new consumer centric online backup solution they chose to ‘whitelabel’ KeepVault; they used KeepVault as the foundation for their own customized solution.  Contractual obligations prohibit us from disclosing which PC OEM it is, but needless to say they are BIG.  Why did a company as large as this and with so many of their own resources choose KeepVault?

Experience! Experience! Experience!

Our team has shipped backup (Backup MyPC) and mastering (RecordNow, MyCD) solutions globally, with every major PC and drive OEM (tens, perhaps hundreds of millions of units). KeepVault benefited from this and was designed from the beginning with modular, easy to customize components.   Changing the product name, look and feel, and features are no problem.  Want to integrate with your own cash register? Easy!  Add new languages? Sure!  Want a completely custom solution?  We have an SDK for that! The end result is you get the ultra reliable and secure KeepVault platform, and you get it your way.

So if you’re looking to profit by selling your own backup solution, contact us or learn more about our affiliate and reseller program. Just like <company name here>, you’ll be glad you did!

As many of you know, KeepVault Online Backup provides some of the best value in online backup; combining winning features and speed at competitive prices.  What you might not have heard is that the folks over at Reddit have declared March 31st as World Backup Day (#worldbackupday on Twitter) AND we're giving away some accounts to help celebrate!

We're excited to see this amount of excitement about the idea of a backup day, and even more encouraged to see users posting about a world restore day (the idea of testing that your backup actually restores what you want it to!).

So, you read the headline about winning free online backup accounts, here are the juicy details!

1) Either follow us on Facebook or Twitter (or both for an extra chance to win) using the links on this page

• You can use this tweet link if you like

2) Post a short tweet or message (you have to do this step) with the tags #keepvault & #worldbackupday

3) You will be entered to win a year-long 100GB subscription to KeepVault Pro.  Worth $394!

The giveaway closes end of March 31st Pacific Time

Microsoft today announced that Windows Home Server 2011 is ready for release.  The appropriate KeepVault Online Backup release (version 4.00) will be available in a few days, once final verification is complete.

View their announcement here

SeanDaniel.com has a great writeup about upgrading to KeepVault Pro Online Backup.  As you'll read, it's a painless and easy experience!!

IBM recently announced that it is building a new data center near Beijing China.  The new data center is set to be among the ten largest in the world.  This announcement brings to mind an important subject for consideration.  Where is your data warehoused, and why is location even important?

I will address the latter of these two questions first.  With the near ubiquity of bandwidth and storage, having your data cross a border, state or otherwise, at some point is all but guaranteed.  Though not often considered, not all governments view personal privacy the same.  As recently as August of 2008, the Chinese government has been known to lock down data centers to search through archives.  Do you know where your provider’s data center is?

Perhaps you are backing up family photos or patient health records.  Either way, if you are reading this blog, you care enough about your data to protect it.  You also want to know that you are the only with access to your data.  KeepVault begins the process by encrypting your data –at the source– using up to 256 bit AES encryption.  Then communication with our servers is accomplished using an encrypted Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) connection.  This connection prevents would-be eavesdropping while data traverses the Internet.

The final piece of the equation is the data center.  All the encryption on earth provides only limited protection if third parties can gain physical access to your data.  KeepVault only houses data in places that have laws to protect your personal and business data.  Our servers are currently located in California, Kansas, and Michigan, USA.  Moreover, as we expand our global network, we will only ever house data in states or countries with similar laws already in place.

The data center is an often overlooked aspect when considering an online backup provider.  Those of us who have created KeepVault consider it a sacred bond of trust with our customers.  Ensuring your data is safe and that only you have access to it motivates us throughout the day.  Rest assured that your data is secure when you use KeepVault backup.