Well, welcome to the forum -
Unfortunately, iTunes is about the only COMPLETE backup to the iPad that is available from my 'newbie' experience.
Some apps will allow individual file backups (apps themselves can usually be downloaded as needed so not a big issue).
As an example for myself, I bought
Bento (by Filemaker) - I started a number of databases, including one for recipes which my wife & I were planning to use in the kitchen (instead of cookbooks, index cards, etc.) - well after entering a dozen or so recipes I was also wondering about an 'extra' backup other than iTunes; well, none seems to exist unless you purchase the desktop version for the Mac (I own a PC) - so I've not continued further - would be very irritated after entering hundreds of recipes to not have an additional backup to the file (or others that I would create).
Winded example, but plenty of others likely exist -
P.S. My iPad is not 'jailbroken' - might make a difference that you will have to pursue - good luck!