When things hit the fan, having a proper data backup and disaster recovery plan in place will save you a whole lot of time and money.
Compared with the cost of having a good backup in the first place – which can be almost laughably tiny – the costs of not having one when disaster strikes can be sky-high.
Which is why it’s so important that if you don’t already have a disaster recovery plan ready to put into action, you need to start thinking about making one.
Why is good data backup so important?
Your data is one of the most vital parts of your company. Every year in the UK, over 33% of lost data is the kind of financial and customer information which really matters to a company’s future.
Not only can this cause significant reputation damage – as businesses as large as Zoom and T-Mobile found out to their cost in 2020 – it can also directly impact your bottom line.
It’s not just malicious data breaches which are potential problems either. Hardware or software failure, flooding, fires, lost or stolen devices and accidental deletion are all big causes of data loss too. Often, this is data which is mission-critical.
A proper backup means you are never left in a situation where one freak event leaves you without vital files. Automatic daily or even hourly backups are easily possible these days. All without you needing to lift a finger.
What does good data backup look like?
1) Being secure on the cloud
Being “on the cloud” means that you access the files and applications you use every day via the internet instead of them being installed or stored on your device.
Migrating to the cloud is a process that can be easily managed by professionals and something that every modern business should be doing. It has a whole range of benefits, including:
- No more lost or found – having a cloud-based storage system with file versioning lets you do away with worries over forgetting manual backups or what could happen to your physical backup hard drives.
- Incredibly secure – data being backed up is transmitted under the kind of encryption usually used by the military, so it’s about as secure as it’s possible to be.
- Simple to restore – as long as you have an internet connection, you can easily restore your data from any point in the past.
2) Cloud storage and backup options
All modern businesses should consider backing up their data on the cloud. Cloud storage is incredibly cheap – even sizes ranging in the terabytes these days – and protects you against disasters like local hard-drive crashes and breakdowns.
Being on the cloud usually gives you access to a file version history. Did somebody make an accidental deletion in an important document? It’s not a problem. You can quickly pull up a previous version.
But full online backup services store all of your computer’s files rather than just the ones you have synced with SaaS (Software as a Service) providers. This means that everything you value is protected if things really hit the fan.
There are also specific email backup options which are there to protect any critical client data included in your communications.
3) Create a contingency plan
What will you do if disaster strikes your business tomorrow? You have a hard drive malfunction. Your website is hacked. Files are missing or corrupted. What will you do?
With a little professional help, you can have a proper contingency plan in place. This will ensure what happens next is a smooth and easy process which quickly restores you to full operational capacity.
It’s just one more weight off your mind when it comes to your business’s readiness to weather crises and not suffer from interruptions in service or income.
What would your contingency plan look like?
Discuss your backup situation and how you could easily improve it with a real Geek today. Dial A Geek helps nearly 100 businesses in and around Bristol make their technology work for them.
Get in touch with our Director Gildas Jones for a commitment-free chat – click here for his bookings calendar.
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