The vulnerability and inefficiency of backing up data on-site is prompting school districts to switch to more secure, less troublesome cloud-based options. District auditors are pushing for a better way to back up their data than the on-site, tape-based system that had been used for years. About three years ago, Hendrick School District in Montrose, New York, replaced its old data-backup structure with an off-site, Web-based system, referred to by some as storage as a service, or StaaS--an offshoot of software as a service (SaaS)--but more commonly called cloud storage. There was a time when school districts showed little interest in storing or backing up data to remote servers. Nothing seemed less secure than handing off data to someone else. But the buzz around cloud storage has grown louder, and the idea of data backup as a service has begun to gain traction in K-12 environments. Off-site backup is also gaining popularity in response to tightening budgets and growing concerns about the security of storing data on-site. In this article, the author presents guidelines for school districts that are considering a switch to cloud-based data storage.