Backup as a service (BaaS) is a subscription service in which a provider supplies and runs the backup software and storage that keep restorable copies of your data, usually in a location separate from your own systems. Instead of buying backup servers, software licenses and tape or disk targets, you pay a recurring fee and the provider handles the infrastructure, and often much of the day-to-day monitoring. How much of the work the provider takes on, from just the platform to fully managed backup and restores, depends on the service. “Cloud backup” is a broader term for any backup sent to cloud storage, whether you run the software yourself or buy it as a service; BaaS is the service model, and its copies may or may not sit in a public cloud.
At a glance
- BaaS delivers backup as a recurring service: software, storage and some level of operation by the provider.
- Copies are usually kept offsite, in the provider’s data centers or a public cloud.
- It typically covers servers, virtual machines, databases, endpoints and SaaS data, depending on the service.
- Retention, copy frequency and restore options are set by policy and drive both cost and recovery point.
- BaaS restores data; getting whole systems running again quickly is the job of disaster recovery.
What problem it solves
Backup is easy to set up and hard to keep right. Jobs fail quietly, some new servers never get added to the schedule, storage fills up, and the backup server itself ages out of support. Copies kept in the same building or on the same network as production can be lost in the same fire, flood or ransomware attack. Many mid-sized companies find out about these problems only when they try to restore something important.
BaaS moves the infrastructure, and often the routine operation, to a provider whose business is backup. Copies go offsite by default, storage scales without hardware purchases, and the provider monitors jobs and, in managed tiers, fixes failures. That frees internal staff from routine backup work and gives the business a clearer view of what is protected.
How it works
Agents or connectors. Software installed on servers and endpoints, or connections to hypervisors, databases and SaaS applications via their interfaces, reads the data to be protected.
Policies. You, the provider or both define what is backed up, how often, and how long each copy is kept. Policies usually differ by data type: frequent copies for busy databases, daily for file shares, longer retention for records with legal or business value.
Transfer and storage. Data is typically compressed, deduplicated and encrypted, then sent to the provider’s storage. Some services keep a local copy as well for faster restores. Many offer immutable backup options that lock copies against change or deletion for a set period.
Monitoring. Job results are tracked and failures flagged. In a self-service model your team acts on them; in a managed model the provider does.
Restore. You can restore individual files, mailboxes, databases or whole machines to a point in time. Restore speed depends on data size, network bandwidth and whether a local copy exists.
When it matters for buyers
- When backup hardware or software reaches end of life. Replacing it is a natural point to compare a service.
- When cyber insurance renews. Insurers often ask about offsite, protected and tested backups.
- When you adopt SaaS. Microsoft 365, Google Workspace and similar platforms often need SaaS backup beyond their built-in retention.
- When nobody owns backup. A managed tier can put monitoring and restores under a contract.
- When planning recovery targets. Your recovery point objective (RPO) and retention needs decide the copy frequency and storage you buy.
Questions to ask vendors
- Which of our systems and SaaS applications do you support, and which would need another tool?
- Who monitors job failures and fixes them, and how quickly?
- Where are copies stored, in which regions, and how many copies do you keep?
- How are backups protected from deletion or encryption by someone using our admin credentials?
- How fast can we restore a whole server or a large data set, and is there a charge to get data out?
- How often will we test restores together, and what proof do we get that backups are recoverable?
- If we leave, how do we get our backup data back, and in what format?
How it differs from DRaaS and DPaaS
Disaster recovery as a service (DRaaS) is built around getting whole systems running again on alternate infrastructure within a target time, with orchestration and testing. BaaS keeps restorable copies; restoring a large environment from them can take much longer than a DRaaS failover. Data protection as a service (DPaaS) is a broader label that bundles backup with disaster recovery, archiving and related data security controls. BaaS is the backup part on its own. Many buyers start with BaaS and add DRaaS for the few systems that need fast recovery. A common way to judge whether your backup design is sound is the 3-2-1 backup rule. Our backup as a service overview covers how to compare providers.