Freeware Backup Software–Watch Out!

The Freeware Gimmick

Are you familiar with the saying ” There ain’t no such thing as a free lunch“?

Especially when it comes to using software, some companies employ marketing “gimmicks” and offer so-called “free” versions of their products. The entire point is to get you hooked and the major price tag follows soon thereafter. For example, some companies offer a free Hyper-v backup solution but it only works for X number of VMs, it doesn’t have a scheduler or whatever else they come up with. Once you start using it, and after many hours of trying and reading documents, you realize it is very limited, instable, and barely functional. Those companies hope that once you have spent all this time you’ll give up and fall for their inferior solution because you have already invested “so much” into it. It’s an old marketing trick. The ‘typical freeware’ may go from $0 to $3,000 per host with just one additional VM added or by adding one more crucial feature you didn’t have in the ‘free’ package.

These typical marketing tricks also capitalize on the fact that people tend to underestimate future system loads and requirements.

The True Winner

What does the company get out of it? It’s simple. Apart from the additional exposure for appearing as freeware, the users of freeware become “guinea pig software testers” without being aware of it. Freeware, more often than not, is just bait…nothing more than that. They want you to use it, invest a lot of time in it, give up looking for better solutions due to lack of time, and finally buy their expensive, ‘real’ thing… 

What are the Risks?

Does it make sense for IT professionals to risk their infrastructure and end up with bad backups just to save a couple of dollars? It makes no sense to risk your data and spend months of your valuable time only to find out the so-called free tool does not work as promised. The same goes for downloaded scripts from the internet. Freeware means use at your own risk and expense….but it is still not free. You are paying indirectly for it in many different ways.

The Solution

The reason why professional tools, such as BackupChain, exist is that we do the testing for you and we stand behind the product with a full warranty. We fix it when necessary, free of charge, and keep it up-to-date. If you ever have an issue with it, we are here to help. This is a promise only paid software can give and it saves you a great deal of time and money, while giving you the assurance you are backed by a qualified team engineers who are available whenever you need them.

Conclusion

Unless you are a hobbyist or student, don’t fall into the “free” trap. Life is beautiful and we wouldn’t want to waste it testing other company’s products, would we?

Check out this article, too https://www.yahoo.com/tech/taking-the-free-out-of-freemium-or-how-i-will-77342391772.html