Backup Made Simple – Seagate Replica

Backup products have been around for years – external hard drives with simple backup software, or even going further back to tape solutions. Ever since we started putting things on disk drives, there has been an understanding of the need to protect that information.
But those backup products have never been very easy to use. They have required software installation and application configuration that just isn’t as simple as people would like. In fact, looking at our own metrics, we know that we sell external storage devices to only a relatively small portion of the installed base of computer owners – we have seen data that identifies this as between 17 and 29%. And of those people who purchase external storage devices, less than half of them actually install and use the backup software that comes with the drive. That’s not a very good hit rate for backup products.
But perhaps time has finally come to change all that. Seagate just today introduced a new product called Seagate Replica. The whole point of this new product is simplicity in backup. How simple? Just plug it in.
I know that sounds a bit overly-simple for a lot of people, but if you remember back to an earlier post where I talked about the percentages of people who backup, and how they backup, you will quickly realize that there is a huge market need out there for simple backup. People have important and precious information on their computers that needs to be protected. And Replica is now the easiest way for them to get complete protection.
Replica is designed to be a backup appliance – it does one thing (backs up your computer) and does it incredibly well.
Yes – I was serious. Just plug it in. The first time you plug it into your Windows-based computer (Replica does not work on a Mac), a license agreement will pop up on the screen. Once you agree to the license agreement, it just starts working. There is an icon in the status bar that, if you hover over it, will tell you how much is left to back up. And it will do it completely in the background.
Replica is not like other simple backup products. It does not just backup only your files and folders. Replica takes simple backup one step further – it backs up your entire hard drive, operating system and all. So, should you ever have a need at a later date to recover your entire system, Replica has the ability to completely rebuild your hard drive, operating system, applications and all. Simple and complete protection.
I think Replica will do very well with the part of the market that doesn’t even want to think about software and settings. Those consumers who have digital cameras, yet aren’t as savvy as to the needs or know-how on backing up.
Replica – a perfect product for the time.