Data backup is crucial for any company but when to do is the key. Out of 90% of companies that back up their data, only 41% back it up daily. By not backing up data frequently, companies are putting themselves at risk for data loss and corruption.
That’s why a data backup strategy is critical to maintaining the continuity of your business in the event of data loss.
What Is a Data Backup Strategy?
A data backup strategy is a plan for protecting your company’s digital information. It typically includes multiple methods for storing and backing up data, as well as a schedule for regularly backing up data. A good strategy is important for any business because it can help protect against data loss due to hardware failures, software glitches, human error, or malicious attacks.
There are many different ways to back up data, but the best backup strategy for your business will depend on your specific needs. There are also some general best practices that all businesses can follow when developing their strategy.
Why Is It Important for Your Business?
Data loss can have a devastating impact on your business. It can lead to lost customers, lower revenues, and damage your reputation. In some cases, data loss can even mean the end of your business.
Recent studies have found that 60% of small businesses were forced to close down due to data loss. A good data backup strategy can help protect you against these risks by ensuring that your data is always available, even if something goes wrong.
5 Best Practices for a Data Backup Strategy
Here are five best practices that your business can follow when implementing a data backup strategy:
1. Identify Your Critical Data
The first step in creating a strategy is to identify which data is most critical to your business. This may include customer data, financial records, inventory data, employee records, or other types of important data. Once you have identified your critical data, you can create a backup plan that focuses on protecting this data.
2. Use Multiple Data Backup Methods
Don’t rely on a single backup method. Backing up data using multiple methods is one of the best ways to protect against data loss. While no single backup method is perfect, using a combination of methods such as on-site and off-site storage can help to ensure that your data is better protected.
- On-site storage device: A physical device such as an external hard drive or server that is kept at your business premises. On-site storage is quick and easy to set up and provides a good level of protection for your data. Note that on-site storage devices are vulnerable to the same risks as your computer, so they should not be your only method of backing up data.
- Off-site storage device: A device that is stored remotely, such as in the cloud or at a data backup service provider. Cloud backup services provide an additional layer of protection for your data, allowing you to store your backups remotely. If your computer and on-site storage devices are destroyed, your data will still be safe.
3. Encrypt Your Backups
Encryption uses special algorithms to encode your data, making it unreadable by anyone who does not have the proper encryption key.
Encrypting your backups can help to prevent data breaches and protect your data if your backup storage devices are lost or stolen. However, if you lose your encryption key, you will also lose access to your data. For this reason, it’s important to store your encryption key in a safe and secure location.
4. Test Your Backups Regularly
Testing your backups regularly is essential to ensure that they are working properly. Backups that are not working correctly are useless and can leave you vulnerable to data loss. There are a few different ways that you can test your backups.
- Restore your backups to a test computer or virtual machine. This will allow you to ensure that the data can be properly restored and that all of the files are intact.
- Use a backup verification tool. This type of tool will scan your backup storage devices and verify the integrity of the data. This can be a good option if you don’t have a test computer or virtual machine available.
5. Keep Your Backup Storage Devices Secure
Keeping your backup storage devices secure is another important best practice. If your backup storage devices are lost or stolen, your data could be at risk.
To protect your backup storage, encrypt your backup storage devices. This will help to prevent data breaches and protect your data if your devices are lost or stolen.
Another option is to physically secure your backup storage devices. For example, you might store backups on an external hard drive at your office, as well as on a cloud backup service. Or, you might keep one copy of your backup on an external hard drive at your home, and another copy on a drive that you store in a safe deposit box.
How Full Send Networks Can Help
Full Send Networks offers a variety of data backup and recovery services to help businesses protect their data. We can work with you to create a custom backup plan that meets your specific needs. To learn more about our data backup and recovery services, contact us today!
