About
Data Protection Matters
Data protection and cyber resilience across
backup, recovery, and continuity
About Data Protection Matters
Data Protection Matters (DPM) is an independent research and advisory firm focused on cyber resilience, backup, disaster recovery, and the operational realities of protecting modern organizations.
The firm works with technology vendors, service providers, and industry organizations to help clarify how resilience strategies actually work in practice — not just how they are marketed.
Through independent research, industry commentary, and executive discussions, DPM examines where resilience strategies succeed, where they fail, and what organizations must do differently to truly recover from disruption.
Areas of focus include:
• Cyber resilience and recovery strategy
• Backup and disaster recovery architectures
• BaaS and DRaaS service models
• Protection storage and modern recovery platforms
• Organizational resilience and recovery testing
The goal is simple: bring clarity to one of the most misunderstood areas of enterprise IT.
What Makes Data Protection Matters Different
Practitioner Perspective
Many industry analysts approach resilience from a strategic or theoretical perspective.
Data Protection Matters brings a practitioner lens.
Founder Jason Buffington spent the first half of his career in quota-carrying technical and field roles, working directly with customers, proof-of-concept testing, and real production environments. That experience informs how research is conducted and how technology capabilities are evaluated.
The result is analysis grounded in how solutions actually perform in real environments — not just how they are positioned in marketing.
Focus on What Drives Buying Decisions
Resilience strategies ultimately succeed or fail based on operational capabilities.
Data Protection Matters focuses on the specific capabilities and architectural decisions that influence customer buying decisions, including:
• recoverability and recovery validation
• cyber resilience architecture
• operational testing and verification
• service provider delivery models
• integration across the resilience stackThis emphasis helps vendors and service providers connect strategy to real customer outcomes.
Independent AND Actionable
DPM is intentionally independent.
That means no vendor bias, no recycled narratives, and no obligation to reinforce a market storyline that doesn’t hold up in practice.
That independence allows organizations to engage with confidence, knowing that analysis is driven by what works in the real world.
Research is built on practitioner experience and primary data — then delivered in a way that organizations can actually use.
Not just for thought leadership, but for real conversations with customers, partners, and executives.
Research Designed to Be Accessible
Traditional analyst research is often limited to large technology vendors with significant analyst budgets.
Data Protection Matters uses a multi-client co-sponsorship model that allows several organizations to participate in major research initiatives together.
This approach allows vendors, service providers, and emerging companies to participate in meaningful industry research at a fraction of the cost of commissioning private studies.
Insight That Supports Both Marketing and Sales
Industry research often focuses exclusively on thought leadership.
Because of its practitioner background, DPM creates insights that can support both strategic positioning and real customer conversations.
Research produced by DPM frequently supports:• thought leadership and market education
• sales enablement discussions
• partner ecosystem conversations
• executive strategy sessions
How DPM Works with Organizations
Research & Thought Leadership
DPM works with organizations to develop research that reflects what’s actually happening in the market — not what’s assumed to be happening.
These engagements combine primary research, executive insight, and clear storytelling to produce content that informs, challenges, and differentiates.
The goal isn’t more content.
It’s better conversations.
Speaking & Industry Engagement
DPM shows up where real conversations are happening.
From keynotes and panels to advisory boards and executive sessions, the focus is always the same: what works, what doesn’t, and what needs to change.
No recycled talking points.
No generic “future of” predictions.Just clear, experience-backed perspective on resilience in practice.
Advisory & Strategic Conversations
Some discussions don’t need a report. They need clarity.
DPM works directly with organizations on product strategy, resilience architecture, and market positioning — offering candid, experience-driven perspective on how capabilities are perceived and where they fall short.
The value isn’t in being agreeable.
It’s in being accurate.
Curated Experiences
Not every valuable conversation happens in a conference room.
For select events, DPM offers the Bourbon Experience — a curated tasting designed to create a more relaxed environment for meaningful discussion among executives and industry leaders.
Because sometimes the best insights happen after the slides are put away.
Why work with DPM
Data Protection Matters (DPM) is built on one simple idea: resilience only matters if it works in the real world. We cut through the marketing noise to deliver independent, practitioner-driven insight that organizations can trust and act on. From research to advisory conversations, our work turns complexity into clarity — so teams can make decisions that truly protect their business.
Or email directly to discuss how we can serve you
About Data Protection Matters
Data Protection Matters (DPM) delivers independent research and insight on backup, disaster recovery, and cyber resilience.
Led by industry analyst and speaker Jason Buffington, DPM helps vendors and service providers understand how organizations actually plan, buy, and operationalize resilience.
- Independent industry analyst
- Published in Forbes and industry media
- Research focused on real-world adoption, not theory
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