Best Practices for a Backup Strategy That Has Your Back

One data loss incident can be devastating for a small business if they don’t have a reliable backup in place that can be recovered quickly.

The average downtime for a ransomware attack is 16.2 days. This type of costly and extended downtime often happens because a company either does not have a full copy of all their data and/or does not have the ability to easily restore data that has been backed up.

A strong backup and recovery strategy is vital for business continuity because companies often cannot operate without their databases that power processes like customer order systems or HR and payroll applications.

Data loss can occur out of the blue and can happen due to lack of temporary access or a complete loss of data. Some of the causes of data loss include:

  • Phishing scams causing ransomware & malware infections
  • Hard drive crash or other system failure
  • Natural or man-made disaster
  • Cloud service outage
  • Human error (accidental overwrite or deletion)
  • Malicious insider attack
  • Lost or stolen computer or mobile device

Backing up all of your data should not be just an afterthought. It needs to be one of the most important parts of your business technology strategy.

How to Do Backup & Recovery Right

The average failure rate for backing up all data is an astounding 75%. Why so high? Companies often make mistakes that cost them dearly when it comes to data backups.

These can include things like never checking on backups, not understanding the importance of the recovery component and not backing up all data from all places.

Here are some of the best data backup practices that can help you avoid making one of those mistakes.

Back Up Off Premises

If you are only backing up your data on the premises with a local server or detachable hard drive, you are leaving yourself at risk of losing all of your information.

If a natural disaster occurs and destroys your building, you could lose all of your workstations and backups as well.

You want to ensure that you back up off of the premises. This is typically done using a cloud backup and recovery system. You can still back up on-premises if you want to but you also need to have a copy of all your data in the cloud.

This ensures that no matter where you are, you can access your data and restore it to a device if needed.

Monitor Your Backup for Problems

Many backup failures occur as a result of backups being unmonitored. Companies will have backups started on employee devices and then just assume that they are working as they should be. It is only months later when that data is needed that they might find out that the system has not been backing up as they thought.

This can occur due to:

  • Software error
  • Backup not coming back on after reboot
  • Backup that has run out of space
  • Employee accidentally turning off the backup

Monitored backup and recovery plans from a trusted IT provider, like Sound Computers, ensures that your backup is being watched and any issues are being dealt with immediately. This way no backup failures will occur.

Test Your Backup Recovery

Recovery is the important second half of a data backup strategy. Your backup is only as good as your ability to recover your data from it.

You should ensure that the data backup that you use has an easy, fast and complete data recovery component. In order to ensure that, you need to test backup recovery.

This helps you confirm that your data is being backed up appropriately and that your recovery process is as comprehensive and quick as possible. It also helps employees become familiar with a recovery process so that your team is not going through it for the first time during an emergency.

Backup All Data (Computer, Server, Mobile, Cloud)

Is ALL of your business data included in your backup strategy? This includes data that might be in cloud platforms like Microsoft 365 or Dropbox.

Cloud storage systems are not the same as a backup and recovery system. You need to ensure that cloud data is also backed up just as data from computers and servers are backed up.

Another area to consider when planning your backup strategy is mobile device data. Many employees now use mobile devices to accomplish many of their tasks. These devices are also more easily lost or stolen. You want to make sure that any business data on these devices is being properly captured and backed up.

What about remote employee devices? Are employees using company computers or their own personal devices when working from home? Either way, you will need to ensure that any company data on those devices is also covered by your backup plan.

Get Complete, Comprehensive & Affordable Backup Solutions

Sound Computers can help your Connecticut business with strong backup and recovery strategies that keep all of your business data properly protected.

Contact us today to schedule a free consultation. Call 860-577-8060 or reach us online.

February 9, 2021
Sound Computers Admin