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You can back up your private cloud data using a one-size-fits-all-method or by doing it manually, but neither approach is ideal. But automation might be the key. For years, Microsoft's model was "If we build it, someone else will back it up." It resulted in backup vendors creating their own database agents for apps like Exchange and SharePoint and lots of third-party support disclaimers. So Microsoft created Volume Shadow Copy Service (VSS) as a framework that backup and data storage vendors could use, and things started getting better. But VSS adoption was slow at first and allowed some latitude in its implementation, so Microsoft shipped its own backup product -- System Center Data Protection Manager (SCDPM) -- that gave users another choice. It also taught Microsoft quite a bit about backup in the real world, and VSS improved because of it. Today, almost every backup app for Windows starts with the VSS framework and builds on it. Why the history lesson? Because some companies are regressing to an "if we launch new virtualized...