As organizations increasingly adopt multi-cloud environments and face sophisticated cybersecurity threats in 2025, traditional backup systems are proving inadequate for today's complex IT landscapes. Backup as a Service (BaaS) has emerged as a game-changing solution, offering enterprises the scalability, automation, and cost-effectiveness needed to protect their growing data volumes while freeing up IT teams to focus on strategic initiatives.

In this exclusive Q&A, VMblog speaks with Anthony Cusimano, Solutions Director at Object First, about how BaaS is transforming enterprise data protection strategies. From combating ransomware threats to enabling cloud-native services, Cusimano explores why forward-thinking organizations are making the shift from traditional backup systems to BaaS solutions.

With IT teams facing tighter budgets and smaller staffs while managing exponentially growing data volumes, BaaS provides a subscription-based, predictable cost model that scales with business needs. As Cusimano explains, this transformation isn't just about backup technology—it's about enabling enterprises to innovate, stay competitive, and focus on value-driven initiatives that directly support business goals.

Read on to discover how BaaS is reshaping the future of enterprise data protection and what organizations should look for when evaluating BaaS providers for their multi-cloud environments.

++

VMblog:  What is driving the expansion of BaaS as a key solution to managing backup systems in dispersed cloud environments?

Anthony Cusimano:  The expansion of multi-cloud environments in 2025 is a result of the growing amount of data that organizations are managing as they begin to apply advanced technologies like AI to their infrastructure. These technologies can help combat sophisticated cyberattacks, promote innovation, and distinguish organizations as leaders in their industry.

However, business leaders need to prioritize data management now more than ever. This rapid transformation includes the adoption of multi-cloud environments for flexibility and oversight of data stewardship, but data stored on the cloud also needs secure backup options that can withstand threats such as a cyberattack or a natural disaster that would otherwise cause downtime or data theft.

That's where BaaS comes into play. BaaS is quickly becoming a leading framework for enterprises utilizing dispersed cloud environments due to its benefits, such as scalability, automation, and accessibility, as well as its cost-effectiveness for IT teams facing tight budgets.

VMblog:  How does BaaS differ from traditional backup systems, especially in terms of scalability and security?

Cusimano:  There are several key differentiators between BaaS and traditional backups, such as accessibility, scalability, and cost. Both are great options for securing data and staying compliant; however, the decision comes down to the enterprise backup needs of businesses as they grow and evolve.

BaaS is a great investment for companies looking to expand or knowing that their backup needs will grow in the future. Traditional backups may not offer as much adaptability and require a different set of skills to meet the priorities of the IT team. Therefore, traditional backups can be an excellent solution for IT teams that are not stretched too thin, are single-site or mostly on-premises, and can monitor and manage backup software in-house.

When deciding between BaaS and traditional backups, it is also important to consider the automation, reliability, and accessibility of BaaS. BaaS will constantly run in the background, and the data management platform/data mover can be accessed anytime from any location as long as there is an internet connection. This can be mitigated entirely by ensuring that, for hybrid environments, on-prem immutable storage is used at physical sites that require data protection, and alternative cloud-based storage options are used for cloud backup. This will ensure recovery is always an option regardless of connectivity or outage. BaaS also offers in-house IT teams the ability to focus on other initiatives. At the same time, third-party BaaS providers assume responsibility for the handling and can manage the storage supervision.

VMblog:  What does BaaS provide as organizations navigate today's heightened cybersecurity threats and support business continuity and disaster recovery efforts, particularly with rising ransomware threats?

Cusimano:  BaaS is a great tool for organizations to have in their business continuity and disaster recovery arsenal. BaaS can save several copies of data in various locations. Each layer of redundancy protects the data from being stolen or damaged. In the face of a disastrous event, BaaS will ensure that data can be recovered immediately with little effort, from the most convenient location, and with no additional costs.

Think about how hard it would be to retrieve data with no backup solution. It is almost impossible to imagine, considering the prolonged state of downtime and the huge revenue loss organizations could face if a tool such as BaaS is not installed to help when disaster strikes.

Third-party BaaS vendors automatically provide disaster recovery capabilities that could include geo-redundancy, as mentioned above, as well as rapid recovery tools and business continuity planning. Any strong disaster recovery plan should include BaaS to mitigate downtime, damage, and loss from a disaster. These catastrophic events can range from a cyber-attack, a natural disaster, or any other event that would leave a network vulnerable to infiltration or leave data unusable.

VMblog:  How is the adoption of BaaS empowering enterprises to focus on strategic IT initiatives such as cloud-native services?

Cusimano:  IT teams today are typically running multiple infrastructures for development, as well as frequent tests, analytics, forensics, and other daily tasks and monitoring that take up a huge amount of time and resources. Vendors with BaaS capabilities can help by providing application-consistent copies of production. It is not just about creating these clones but having a BaaS provider that automates this process and frees up time for IT teams to focus on other initiatives and projects. IT and security leaders can prioritize improving their systems infrastructure because they do not have to worry about their storage and backups being left vulnerable, knowing that their BaaS vendor provides intelligent automation capabilities.

VMblog:  How does BaaS provide a cost-effective way for enterprises to scale and meet today's increased need for data volume and management?

Cusimano:  IT teams are more consistently facing smaller teams with tighter budgets that leave them open to greater threats and must choose which programs must be prioritized. However, BaaS is a cost-effective tool often billed on a subscription basis. IT leaders can then factor in the predictable spend and optimize their budget accordingly. Traditional backups, on the other hand, are a great solution for enterprises with established budgets that have a better idea of their scalability projections.

Cost is an extremely important factor to consider, especially as organizations are having to manage more and more data. As mentioned above, data is increasingly becoming a business gold mine. Without strong data, businesses risk falling behind their competitors if their data is not securely stored and organized properly.

VMblog:  From a strategic perspective, how is the shift to BaaS freeing up IT teams to focus on more value-driven initiatives across the enterprise?

Cusimano:  Imagine a world where IT teams could focus more on value-driven initiatives and projects that directly support business goals and contribute to significant returns. These projects can include initiatives that meet the expected needs of customers and users or projects that work to eliminate redundancies, unused licenses, and inefficient processes. With these gaps and challenges reduced, due to more resources being freed up by BaaS working in the background, IT teams can also focus on fostering collaboration and developing a shared pathway for future IT roadmaps. These internal changes will eventually leave room for IT teams to innovate with emerging technologies, expand their customer bases, and stay ahead of their competitors.

VMblog:  What should organizations look for when evaluating or sourcing a BaaS provider to ensure alignment with their business goals and cloud architecture?

Cusimano:  Navigating the various vendor and solution offerings can be overwhelming. However, there are a few things business leaders need to keep in mind when deciding which BaaS provider is best for their organization, such as scalability, security, and disaster recovery. 

A sufficient BaaS vendor should offer customizable options that allow backups to be configured to meet the business's needs. The correct vendor also needs to be able to adapt to a business's changing priorities and needs and integrate seamlessly with existing platforms and applications and with upcoming projects.

Data security and disaster recovery are of the utmost importance for many businesses, and their BaaS provider needs to also equip their customers with secure storage and disaster recovery tools. Top BaaS vendors offer the highest level of data security technology and encryption tactics. A BaaS vendor can help data stay secure at every level of the data lifecycle, when it is being used, stored, and shared throughout the organization. Each BaaS vendor should also have a robust disaster recovery plan in place to keep their customers' data safe and ensure data and server redundancy in any circumstance.

VMblog:  In the future, how do you think the adoption of BaaS will impact how enterprises manage data protection?

Cusimano:  In the future, Backup as a Service (BaaS) will significantly alter how enterprises manage data protection by providing a more efficient, cost-effective, and scalable solution. BaaS will enable organizations to offload backup and recovery management to specialized providers, reducing their internal IT burden and allowing them to focus on core business functions. This shift will also lead to improved data security, enhanced compliance, and greater business continuity.

##