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12 leading courses in data backup training for IT teams
Data backup training covers key aspects of data protection that are essential for compliance and risk mitigation. Here are 12 programs that build enterprise competencies.
Data backup is an essential factor in business continuity, DR and overall business resilience. But having data backup technology is not enough; organizations and their staff must understand how to implement, use and maintain these backups effectively. Once considered just a technical necessity, data backup training has become a crucial part of a data backup strategy and a strategic business imperative that significantly affects compliance, risk mitigation and organizational resilience.
Data backup training includes several categories, each addressing critical aspects of organizational data protection:
- Technical implementation. This type of training focuses on platform-specific skills needed to configure, manage and troubleshoot backup offerings.
- Security. Security-focused training programs emphasize ransomware protection, encrypted backup storage and integration with cybersecurity frameworks.
- Compliance. Data backup governance and compliance training addresses regulatory requirements, including GDPR, HIPAA and the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, as well as emerging frameworks such as the Digital Operational Resilience Act.
- Executive programs. These strategic training programs help executives develop leadership capabilities in backup planning, vendor management and business continuity decision-making.
- Disaster recovery. This type of training specifically targets crisis response and business resilience planning.
This article examines some of the leading data backup training programs and identifies the most effective courses for building enterprise-grade competencies.
Backup training and certification courses for enterprise teams
The following 12 backup training courses and certifications come from some of the most influential players in the backup and DR ecosystem. The programs were selected to address a broad spectrum of data protection and business continuity professionals. The list balances both traditional enterprise backup offerings and modern cloud-native approaches, ensuring relevance across different organizational technology stacks and maturity levels.
1. Backup & Restore with AWS
Vendor-offered training resources include an e-book, labs, tutorials, TechTalks, videos, white papers and industry reports on AWS storage, backup and DR.
Target audience: Cloud engineers and solution architects.
Website: aws.amazon.com/backup-restore/getting-started
2. Certificate of the Business Continuity Institute
The CBCI 7.0 Certification Course covers six professional practices used to create, implement and manage a business continuity management system, including the Good Practice Guidelines 7.0. Participants passing the CBCI Exam also acquire their BCI Membership.
Target audience: Business continuity management coordinators and resilience practitioners.
Website: www.thebci.org/certification-training/business-continuity-certification-cbci.html
3. Cohesity Certified Protection Professional - NetBackup
This vendor certification covers the areas of core competency for Cohesity's Veritas NetBackup platform. Key topics include configuring storage devices, backups and restorations, management and day-to-day data backup operations.
Target audience: NetBackup administrators and backup engineers.
Website: www.cohesity.com/academy/certification/exam-vcs-284
4. Commvault Professional Certification
Vendor-offered courses cater to different skill levels, from beginners who want to learn how to back up, monitor and recover data, manage storage policies, and store and deduplicate data, to more advanced users who want to customize these features to meet their specific needs.
Target audience: Backup administrators and data protection professionals.
Website: www.commvault.com/commvault-training
5. CompTIA Cloud+ (V4)
Participants will learn how to analyze cloud models, migrate workloads, manage environments, ensure security compliance, apply DevOps practices and troubleshoot issues.
Target audience: Cloud engineers and systems administrators.
Website: www.comptia.org/en-us/certifications/cloud
6. Dell PowerProtect Data Manager Implementation and Administration
This vendor course explains how to deploy, configure and integrate Dell EMC PowerProtect Data Manager with various data protection products, such as Microsoft SQL, Oracle, SAP HANA and VMware virtual machines.
Target audience: Implementation engineers and enterprise backup professionals.
Website: learning.dell.com/content/dell/en-us/home/training/data-protection/powerprotect-data-manager.html
7. DRI International Certified Business Continuity Professional
The CBCP certification is for individuals with more than two years of demonstrated experience in BCDR. Participants must show expertise in five subject areas of the Professional Practices for Business Continuity Management, with at least two areas chosen from the following: business impact analysis; business continuity strategies; plan development and implementation; or BC plan exercise/test, assessment and maintenance.
Target audience: Business continuity professionals and DR managers.
Website: drii.org/certification/cbcp
8. Google Cloud Certified Professional Data Engineer
This vendor certification covers Google Cloud's native backup and DR strategies. Participants should have more than three years of industry experience, including more than a year of designing and managing applications using Google Cloud.
Target audience: Cloud data engineers and Google Cloud Platform architects.
Website: cloud.google.com/learn/certification/data-engineer
9. ISC2 Data Protection Express Courses
Participants will learn how to protect their organization's information from cybersecurity threats. Courses cover how to manage violations, classify and secure data, comply with regulations and standards, repair policies and procedures, and build an organizational culture.
Target audience: Data protection specialists.
Website: www.isc2.org/professional-development/express-courses/data-protection
10. Microsoft Azure Backup training
Vendor-offered classes range from short learning modules to dayslong courses. Topics covered include Azure recovery services, backup policies, VM backups and cloud DR.
Target audience: Cloud administrators and Azure engineers.
Website: learn.microsoft.com/en-us/training/browse/?terms=backup&products=azure
11. PECB Certified Lead Disaster Recovery Manager
Participants will learn how to analyze an incident response plan, emergency plan and crisis management plan, as well as how to conduct DR testing and performance measurements.
Target audience: DR managers and IT pros.
12. Veeam Certified Engineer v12 course and certification
Participants in this vendor-offered course will learn how to configure, manage and support a Veeam Backup & Replication environment. The course is also a prerequisite for taking the VMCE v12 certification exam.
Target audience: IT administrators, backup engineers and system architects.
Website: veeamuniversity.com/course/vmce-v12
| VENDOR-SPECIFIC PROGRAMS | ||
| Certification | Target audience | Key learning outcomes |
| Backup & Restore with AWS aws.amazon.com/backup-restore/getting-started/ |
Cloud engineers and solution architects | Training resources for AWS storage, backup and disaster recovery (DR) |
| Cohesity Certified Protection Professional - NetBackup www.cohesity.com/academy/certification/exam-vcs-284 |
NetBackup administrators and backup engineers | NetBackup architecture, policy configuration, storage management and troubleshooting |
| Commvault Professional Certification www.commvault.com/commvault-training |
Backup administrators and data protection professionals | Commvault architecture, Command Center operations, deduplication management and cyber resilience planning |
| Dell PowerProtect Data Manager Implementation and Administration learning.dell.com/content/dell/en-us/home/training/data-protection/powerprotect-data-manager.html |
Implementation engineers and enterprise backup professionals | PowerProtect deployment, application integration (Exchange/SQL/Oracle) and hybrid infrastructure optimization |
| Google Cloud Certified Professional Data Engineer cloud.google.com/learn/certification/data-engineer |
Cloud data engineers, Google Cloud Platform architects | Certification covering Google Cloud's native backup and DR strategies |
| Microsoft Azure Backup training learn.microsoft.com/en-us/training/browse/?terms=backup&products=azure | Cloud administrators and Azure engineers | Azure recovery services, backup policies, VM backups and cloud DR |
| Veeam Certified Engineer (VMCE) v12 course and certification veeamuniversity.com/course/vmce-v12 |
IT administrators, backup engineers and system architects | Advanced Veeam Data Platform configuration, backup optimization, recovery scenarios and hybrid cloud integration |
| VENDOR-NEUTRAL PROGRAMS | ||
| Certification | Target audience | Key learning outcomes |
| Certificate of the Business Continuity Institute (CBCI 7.0) www.thebci.org/certification-training/business-continuity-certification-cbci.html |
Business continuity management (BCM) coordinators and resilience practitioners | BCM lifecycle, risk assessment techniques, crisis management and ISO 22301 alignment |
| CompTIA Cloud+ (V4) www.comptia.org/en-us/certifications/cloud |
Cloud engineers and systems administrators | Multi-cloud backup architecture, data migration, cloud storage optimization and infrastructure as code |
| DRI International Certified Business Continuity Professional (CBCP) drii.org/certification/cbcp |
Business continuity professionals and DR managers | Business continuity planning, risk assessment, crisis management and regulatory compliance |
| ISC2 Data Protection Express Courses www.isc2.org/professional-development/express-courses/data-protection |
Data protection specialists | Backup encryption, data lifecycle management and compliance frameworks |
| PECB Certified Lead Disaster Recovery Manager pecb.com/en/education-and-certification-for-individuals/disaster-recovery/lead-manager-disaster-recovery |
DR managers and IT pros | Comprehensive course in DR projects, plans and best practices |
Who needs backup training?
Backup training can benefit a wide range of IT professionals whose responsibilities and oversight can include safeguarding data and ensuring business continuity. Among the roles that can benefit from backup training are the following:
- System administrators. Sys admins responsible for deploying and managing backup systems need hands-on skills to maintain operational integrity.
- Database administrators. Database admins need to have the proper training to ensure the systems they manage are properly backed up.
- Data center managers. Overseeing comprehensive data strategies, data center managers benefit from understanding backup technologies and their integration.
- Cloud managers. Organizations that use the cloud have a diverse array of users. Those specifically responsible for overall cloud use and management need to understand data backup capabilities.
- Security and DR. Backup training can benefit security personnel involved in incident response and recovery.
- Executives. Decision-makers, such as CIOs, CTOs and chief information security officers, need insights into the overall backup strategy to align data protection with organizational goals.
Key skills addressed in modern backup training programs
Backup training programs have the potential to address both technical competencies and strategic business skills essential for organizational resilience. The following are some key skills found in modern backup training programs:
- Technical proficiency. Vendor-specific programs provide learners with the skills necessary to fully understand and benefit from the tools being used to enable and support data backup.
- Security. Data backup is a critical aspect of resilience, including ransomware protection.
- Automation and orchestration. This includes skills in backup automation, monitoring and alerting systems, scripting for complex recovery scenarios and integration with IT service management platforms
- Compliance and risk management. Data backup is a core element of regulatory compliance and risk management. Courses can help with an understanding of regulatory requirements, audit preparation, documentation standards and risk assessment methodologies specific to data protection.
Strategic benefits of backup training programs
Organizations implementing data backup training programs achieve measurable improvements in recovery performance, compliance posture and cost avoidance.
Key strategic benefits of backup training include the following:
- Enhanced recovery success rates. Organizations with properly trained backup staff are more likely to be successful in data restoration operations.
- Reduced downtime costs. Downtime costs can potentially be reduced when data backup restoration happens faster due to trained staff.
- Improved regulatory compliance. Data backup training and compliance-focused programs reduce audit risks and potential penalties. For example, healthcare organizations that are audit-ready, thanks to proper backups, can avoid the annual maximum cost of $25,000 for repeatedly and unknowingly violating civil HIPAA guidelines.
- Enhanced organizational resilience. Comprehensive backup training creates organizational capabilities that extend beyond technical recovery to include crisis leadership, cross-functional coordination and strategic decision-making during business continuity events.
Sean Michael Kerner is an IT consultant, technology enthusiast and tinkerer. He has pulled Token Ring, configured NetWare and been known to compile his own Linux kernel. He consults with industry and media organizations on technology issues.
