Why Backups Matter More Than Ever
Data loss happens in more ways than most businesses plan for. Ransomware attacks that encrypt your files. Hardware failures that take a server offline without warning. Accidental deletion by a staff member. A fire or flood that destroys on-site equipment. In every one of these scenarios, a working backup is the difference between recovery and catastrophe.
Setting up a backup is not enough on its own. It needs to cover the right data, run frequently enough, and be tested regularly to confirm it actually works. Many businesses only discover a problem with their backup at the worst possible moment.
What You Should Be Backing Up
Business-critical data typically falls into several categories: financial records and accounting data, client records and CRM data, project files and documents, email and calendar data, custom software databases, and system configurations that would take significant time to rebuild.
A common mistake is backing up only the file server while leaving cloud-based data unprotected. Microsoft 365 email, SharePoint files, and Teams content are not automatically backed up by Microsoft. If your team stores work in 365, you need a separate backup solution for that data.
How Often Should You Back Up?
The right frequency depends on how much data you can afford to lose. The technical term is Recovery Point Objective (RPO): the maximum acceptable amount of data loss measured in time. For most businesses, losing a full day of work is painful but survivable. For others, even an hour of data loss is unacceptable.
Daily automated backups are the minimum for most businesses. Businesses handling high volumes of transactions or time-sensitive records should consider more frequent incremental backups, or Continuous Data Protection (CDP) that captures changes in near real-time.
Choosing a Backup Solution
Cloud backup
Stores your backup data in a secure offsite location automatically. No physical media to manage, accessible from anywhere, and typically includes versioning so you can restore from multiple previous points in time. Modern cloud backup solutions can include immutability, preventing ransomware from deleting or encrypting the backup data.
Local backup
Backup to an on-site device such as a NAS drive or external hard drive. Fast to restore from, but vulnerable to the same physical events that could damage your primary data, such as fire, flood, or theft. Should always be combined with an offsite or cloud copy.
Hybrid backup
Combines local and cloud backup for both speed and resilience. Local backup enables fast recovery for common scenarios. Cloud backup provides protection when local storage is unavailable. For most businesses, this is the most practical and reliable approach.
Testing Your Backup
A backup that has never been tested is an assumption, not a guarantee. Recovery testing should be a scheduled activity, not something that only happens during a crisis. At a minimum, confirm quarterly that a restore of critical data completes successfully and produces usable files. Document the result so you have evidence of what works and when.
Blowfish Technology manages backup solutions for North West businesses, including configuration, monitoring, and scheduled recovery testing. We will tell you honestly whether your current backup would protect you, and put something better in place if it would not.
The Blowfish Technology team. Managed IT, cloud services, software development and connectivity for North West businesses since 1999.