Backup as a Service: Decoding India’s opportunity and reality

In a digital-first India, backup is no longer just an IT checkbox. Ransomware attacks, compliance mandates, and AI-led data demands have turned it into a boardroom conversation. With hybrid work here to stay, the need for secure, scalable, and easy-to-manage backup has moved from “optional” to “urgent.”

For Sunil Golani, Director, Cloud Sales, Ingram Micro, the past year has been proof that the market is ready for a shift.

“We’ve grown faster than the market, particularly in Infrastructure-as-a-Service and Platform-as-a-Service,” Golani said. “But when it comes to BaaS, our role is to democratise access, making solutions easier to adopt in both Tier 1 and Tier 2 cities.”

The approach is targeted. “In Tier 1, we focus on mature, cloud-savvy partners, giving them curated bundles, offers, and co-selling support to scale faster,” he explained. “In Tier 2, it’s about evangelism. We invest in education, training, and readiness so partners understand the risk of data loss and the benefits of cloud backup.”

Backup as a Service: Where the demand is coming from

The drivers for BaaS adoption are deeply vertical-specific. Golani mapped out four sectors shaping the conversation. In healthcare, “Here, HIPAA-compliant solutions are a must to ensure patient data privacy and regulatory adherence,” he said. In BFSI,  “Demand is driven by strict governance norms and the need for long-term archival.” 

Likewise, in education, “Low-latency, bandwidth-optimised backup is critical for remote institutions with limited connectivity.” Moreover, in manufacturing, “We see a need for hybrid solutions that combine on-prem resilience with cloud scalability.”

Post-COVID, hospitality and healthcare are also emerging as focus verticals for Ingram Micro’s pilot initiatives.

“In hospitality, the rebound in tourism and medical travel has created pent-up demand,” Golani said. “In healthcare, it’s about privacy, compliance, and remote accessibility—issues that can’t be ignored.”

Partners in transition: from resellers to MSPs

One of the biggest opportunities, and challenges, lies in helping partners shift from transactional sales to recurring revenue models.

Golani shared the story of a partner who moved from selling Azure storage licences to offering full-fledged Backup as a Service, or BaaS, with SLAs for backup and restoration.

“They now charge for what’s delivered, not just infrastructure used,” he said. “It’s a move from consumption-based to outcome-based revenue, and that changes the entire conversation with the customer.”

This shift requires not just skill upgrades but operational changes. “You can’t run a recurring model with a transactional mindset,” Golani stressed. “Cash flows change, incentives change, even how you define success changes.”

That’s where Ingram Micro steps in with transformation workshops, white-labelled marketing kits, and the Xvantage platform for automation.

“Without automation, scaling a recurring model is near impossible,” Golani noted. “Our platform takes away that complexity so partners can focus on value, not backend processes.”

India's Backup Market – The gaps and roadblocks

India’s Backup as a service market still faces friction. According to Golani, three issues dominate:

1. Mindset shift – “Moving from upfront payments to spread-out revenue can be uncomfortable. It takes trust in the model.”

2. Operational change – “Incentives, payment cycles, and processes must all align to recurring business.”

3. Automation needs – “Subscription management, renewals, and SLA tracking are not optional—they’re the foundation.”

Golani is clear about the stakes:

“If partners don’t build the right systems, they’ll spend all their energy on administration instead of growth.”

The AI factor: governance meets security

The future of Backup as a Service is tied to AI adoption, but not for the reasons most expect.

“AI cannot organise chaos,” Golani warned. “Without proper governance, AI systems will produce errors or hallucinations. Backup alone won’t save you if your data is messy or insecure.”

Data governance is about how data is stored, accessed, and structured, is now as important as the backup process itself. Security is the other half of the equation.

“In an agentic AI world, permissions matter. A badly configured system could have a chatbot exposing your CEO’s salary if controls aren’t tight,” he said.

The partner opportunity ahead in the BaaS domain

For Golani, this is where partners can step into a high-value advisory role.

“Before offering AI, partners should help customers fix governance and security gaps. It’s a services opportunity, and there’s a shortage of these skills in the market.”

By packaging assessments, governance fixes, and secure BaaS architectures together, partners can position themselves as more than tech providers, they become risk managers and AI enablers.

“Backup and data recovery are no longer just IT operations,” Golani emphasised. “They’re strategic components of business resilience and AI readiness.”

Conclusion: from backup as a service to business resilience

BaaS in India is entering a decisive phase. Demand is rising, vertical-specific solutions are maturing, and partner ecosystems are evolving. But the winners will be those who blend technical delivery with advisory depth, helping customers not just store data but secure, govern, and monetise it in the AI era.

As Golani summed up:

“Our goal is simple; make Cloud adoption easy, accessible, and scalable. And ensure partners are ready, not just to sell backup, but to deliver business outcomes.”

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