Your business runs on data. You keep customer information, invoices, project files, inventory and much more. If you were to lose it, you face a myriad of problems from hits to your reputation to major downtime. Today is World Backup Day, so we thought it would be good to highlight just how important having a feature-rich and reliable backup strategy is.

Threats Are Everywhere

Your business can befall all types of issues where having an extra copy of your files can be a Godsend. Accidents of all types, cyberattacks, and other disasters could put your data—and therefore your business—at risk. Things can happen regardless of how careful you’ve been. 

Here’s just a small list of ways your data can disappear:

• Human error - Accidental deletions happen more often than you’d think.
• Hardware failure - Hard drives and servers don’t last forever.
• Cyberattacks - Hackers are always inventing new ways to steal or lock your data.
• Natural disasters - Fires, floods, and other unexpected disasters can wipe out everything in one go.
• Software corruption - Even your trusted applications can crash and take your files down with them.

Backup is Another Business Insurance Policy

Backing up your data is just another way you can have an insurance policy for your business. If something happens, you won’t lose everything. You simply restore it and move on. With some backup systems, you can actually use it as your server should you need to procure new hardware. Having protection against risk is a good practice anytime, but with so much riding on your data, protecting it has to be a priority.

Best Practices for Backing Up Your Data

Here are some of the best practices you should know:

• Follow the 3-2-1 rule - Have at least three copies of your data, stored on two different types of media, with one copy offsite; usually in the cloud.
• Automate your backups - Set up automatic backups to ensure it gets done.
• Regularly test your backups - A backup that doesn’t back anything up is useless. Test it periodically to ensure you are protected.
• Use the cloud - Cloud backups provide an extra layer of protection in case something happens to your physical storage.

Keep Moving Forward

A solid backup strategy ensures your business keeps running, even in the face of disaster. Without it, you could lose customer trust, revenue, and even your entire business. No one wants to explain to customers that they lost or compromised data. You could get sued, fined, or worse, ignored.

Is your business protected against data loss? If you could use a professional perspective to help back up your data, give us a call today at (571) 470-5594.

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