Do we still need backups?

Jul 27, 2022

Have you ever had the heart-sinking feeling that you’ve lost all your data, or has there been a time where the worst-case scenario happens, and your data is actually missing?

This can be detrimental for a business, so being proactive about your data security is essential to keep your IT systems working smoothly. If data threats occur, it is priceless to know that your business and its data are protected. Storing your data in the cloud takes the strain out of backups as a cost-effective, reliable solution that goes beyond compliance.

Effortless and soaring above industry standards, it’s automatically encrypted as soon as you send it – giving you confidence that your data isn’t at risk from hackers. As a business, backing up your data will be more technical than backing up your family photo album. Think of backing up customer databases, operating systems and configuration files. Put simply, backups are the right way to protect yourself before anything drastic happens.

According to Forbes, 30,000 new websites are hacked daily.

With an increase in cyberattacks post pandemic having data corrupted or stolen is a reality many businesses face daily and has almost become normalized. However, backups take a lot of time and resource. That’s partly because data size and composition of varying formats keeps increasing; plus, in spite of deduplication, a lot of legacy data remains, especially on old media where it’s not easily recoverable.

Previously, companies may have had their data on-premise or in data centres – where for a 1000+ user organisation, around 20% of the server/storage rack space will be used for backup equipment and that’s just the live stuff. There will be older versions of storage/drives/tapes hanging around “just in case”.

By streamlining and using newer tools/capabilities virtually, such as storing your data in the cloud, all that space can be freed up.

There are a number of reasons why we might need to recover information – data loss or corruption (e.g. malware), a bad configuration update which needed to be backed out (patching), hardware failure, or for disaster recovery and business continuity planning. It could also be to provide legal proof of information being in a known state at a fixed time, long term information retention or archiving, or off-site storage. These can be grouped into three categories: recovery, archiving or retention.

Arguably the majority of these reasons for backup are no longer valid. Much of this is due to cloud. It can address archiving and retention and provides a better solution for disaster recovery.

Here are just a few other benefits from storing your data in the Cloud:

1. Cloud Disaster Recovery (DR) – DR using just backup isn’t viable; it takes too long, and the success rate was minimal. Many public cloud solutions can stand up a live DR scenario much faster and at a lower cost, and cloud or other provider services can replicate data elsewhere to provide offsite storage. A purpose designed cloud backup product also lets you work in de-duplication from the ground up, with the old environment kept for emergencies (which will reduce quickly).

2. A simplified process – It’s always on and running in the background, which means it’s something you can tick off your never-ending list of chores. Most other backup solutions are only as effective as your ability to use them. However, by opting for cloud backup, use and restoration are made simple.

3. Quick to recover – When your data is stored in the cloud, it’s simple to restore. Gone are the days where you would need to worry about driving to a physical location. Quick restoration leads to increased customer satisfaction, and less money you will lose if you’re able to recover your data efficiently.

4. Scalable – You can use as little or as much information as you need, and you only pay for what you use. The cloud is completely scalable with the ability to grow with your business.

There are some things to be aware of when storing your data in the cloud, including the need to have access to WIFI to access your information, and full data recovery can take longer than processing small chunks. Speed should also be on your radar, so you can strategically plan when your backups take place so it does not affect business functions (information being copied and stored can slow down your network).

After reading all about cloud backups, we think you might agree that backing up business-critical data is vital and not something to leave at the bottom of your to-do list. The process removes the opportunity for human error and is secure against cyber threats whilst being less expensive to maintain.

If you’re looking for advice on how to protect your systems and your options for keeping your data secure, contact our friendly team.

We are a Managed Services Provider, meaning we remotely manage companies’ IT infrastructure and end-user systems. By taking the leg work out of IT, businesses can focus their time on achieving their objectives instead of maintaining their IT operations. Without worrying about information being leaked or systems being hacked, you can get on with what you love doing – running your business.

Speak to an expert today