Acronis Archival Storage: A Smarter Way to Handle Long-Term Data Without Breaking the Bank

If you're managing data for multiple clients, you've probably hit this wall: compliance says keep everything for years, but your storage costs are climbing faster than your revenue. Acronis just rolled out Archival Storage inside Cyber Protect Cloud, and it's designed to solve exactly that problem for MSPs dealing with SMB customers who need affordable long-term retention.

Why Archival Storage Isn't Just Another Backup

Here's something that trips people up: archival storage and backup aren't the same thing. Gaidar Magdanurov, President of Acronis, put it plainly: backups are built for speed—quick updates, fast recovery when things go wrong. Archival storage is different. It's where data goes to sit safely for months or years because regulations demand it, legal cases might need it, or the business just isn't ready to delete it yet.

Think of it this way: your backup is the fire extinguisher you grab in an emergency. Your archive is the filing cabinet in the basement that you rarely open but can't throw away. Understanding that difference helps you sell archival as the next logical step in data protection, not some redundant service that overlaps with what clients already have.

It Lives Where You're Already Working

Nobody wants to juggle another platform. Acronis built Archival Storage directly into Cyber Protect Cloud, so there's no separate login, no new interface to learn, no extra training sessions for your team. According to Magdanurov, "MSPs don't need to introduce new tools. Customer data is protected end-to-end, from daily backup through long-term compliance retention, all within one platform."

That matters when you're already stretched thin. One dashboard, one workflow, one less thing to context-switch between when a client calls with questions.

👉 See how integrated infrastructure reduces management overhead and keeps your operations lean

The Hidden Cost That Kills Margins: Egress Fees

Low storage prices look great on paper until someone actually needs their data back. That's when public cloud providers hit you with egress charges—fees for moving data out of their system. For MSPs, that's a margin killer because you can't always predict when clients will need to retrieve archived files.

Magdanurov didn't mince words: "Selling a service for which you cannot predict the cost is difficult, and a gamble for customers if they cannot budget the cost of data retention." Acronis Archival Storage eliminates egress fees entirely. You set your prices knowing exactly what your costs will be, whether clients pull data once a year or once a week.

Fewer Invoices, Less Accounting Headaches

Storage costs are only part of the puzzle. Managing multiple cloud vendor invoices creates its own kind of friction. Each provider has different billing structures, payment terms, and line items that don't always make sense at first glance.

Magdanurov pointed out that unified billing cuts through that noise: "Instead of going through multiple cloud vendor invoices, figuring out complex cost structures, MSPs manage and sell archival storage like any other service on the Acronis platform." Your finance team will thank you for not adding another reconciliation nightmare to their monthly close.

Compliance Doesn't Have to Mean More Vendors

In healthcare, finance, or legal industries, keeping data for years isn't optional—it's the law. The real question is whether meeting those requirements forces you to bring in another vendor with another contract, another support portal, another training manual for your staff.

Acronis Archival Storage keeps everything under one roof. You're already using Cyber Protect Cloud for backups and security. Now long-term retention lives there too, managed through the same console, protected by the same policies. No new vendor relationships, no extra overhead.

👉 Discover how consolidated infrastructure simplifies compliance and reduces vendor sprawl

Less Room for Things to Go Wrong

Moving data between systems is risky. Every transfer creates opportunities for corruption, human error, or incomplete migrations. When you're responsible for years of client data, those risks add up fast.

Magdanurov explained the advantage of keeping everything in one platform: "With data being managed by one solution, the risk to data retention is significantly lower than for the data that should be transferred between multiple providers. There is less room for human error and less room for data corruption on transfer."

Plus, Acronis Archival Storage is immutable—once data is written, it can't be altered or deleted accidentally. That's critical for meeting regulatory requirements and protecting against ransomware or insider threats.

AI Is Making Old Data Valuable Again

Compliance is the obvious driver for archival storage, but there's another reason businesses want to keep more data longer: AI and machine learning. Historical data that seemed useless five years ago might train the models that give your clients a competitive edge tomorrow.

Magdanurov hit on this shift: "In the era of AI, data is the most valuable asset. Customers want to store more data and keep it longer." Archival storage gives businesses an affordable way to preserve that potential without committing to expensive hot storage indefinitely.

Who Should Care About This

Acronis Archival Storage is available now through Cyber Protect Cloud. If you're an MSP dealing with clients in regulated industries, managing growing data volumes, or tired of surprise bills from public cloud egress fees, this is worth a closer look. It's not flashy, but it solves real operational problems: predictable costs, unified management, and lower risk—all without asking you to learn a new platform or sign up with another vendor.

Sometimes the best solutions aren't the ones that sound revolutionary. They're the ones that take something complicated and make it straightforward enough that you can actually deliver it at scale.