Computer Data Backup Protocol and Business Continuity Disaster Recovery Strategies are essential for any size company. It doesn’t matter how small or large your company is, minimize disruption with routine computer data backups.
Forty-seven percent of small businesses don’t back up their data, and consequently, have no plan to protect themselves from cyber-attacks! Maintaining a back up program is overwhelming. That’s where we can help. We look at your company’s data and design a backup and recovery plan to keep you running if an unforeseen incident occurs.
Why data backups?
In today’s cyber era, companies are dependent on technology. We store everything from inventories to our financials on our computers and networks, for instance. Not having a computer data backup strategy in place puts your business in a vulnerable position. There are three types of catastrophic scenarios: Internal, Environmental, and Malicious.
Catastrophic Events
Computers and networks are the most susceptible to catastrophic events. For example it only takes a power surge or hard drive crash, and your data is lost— sometimes forever. Twenty percent of small to medium-sized businesses will suffer a major disaster, resulting in data loss approximately every five years.
Catastrophic events can be nature-related. For instance, tornados, fires, and even floods can destroy your business’ entire IT infrastructure in a matter of seconds. You can’t control Mother Nature, however you mitigate unforeseen catastrophic incidents. Bit Perfection can help you design a plan to recover from any catastrophic events.
Malicious Events
According to Accenture, forty-three percent of cyberattacks target small businesses, but only 14% can defend themselves. Cyberattacks can come in the form of email or downloaded viruses, malware, ransomware, or direct hacking attempts.
Here are a few statistics to consider regarding malicious attacks:
- 43% of cyber attacks target small businesses
- On average, it costs small businesses $200,000 to recover from cyber-attacks.
- 1 in 323 emails sent to small businesses are malicious
- The United States ranks highest, with 18.2% of all ransomware attacks.
- 60% of small businesses that are victims of a cyber attack and consequently, go out of business within six months
- The average cost to recover data from Ransomware attacks is $84,000. There is no guarantee to recover your data. Most times, they delete it.
No matter how strict or comprehensive your cybersecurity policies are, you are never 100% safe from attacks. Therefore, having the proper computer data backup and business continuity recovery plan in place will get you up and running in no time if you, unfortunately, experience a cyberattack.
Above all, having a Managed IT company like Bit Perfection helps you anticipate any catastrophic or malicious events that can protect your company from unrecoverable scenarios.
“An ounce of protection is worth a pound of cure.”
Catastrophic events aren’t completely avoidable. Therefore, anticipating these scenarios and planning how to recover is your best chance at protecting your valuable data. What’s the best backup strategy for your business? Finding the right size and configuration is where Bit Perfection can help. We can assess your current circumstances, identify where your vulnerabilities are, and create a business continuity plan to keep you protected, for example. Let’s talk about the three primary methods of backup: Local, Off-site, and Cloud storage.
Data backup and Local Storage
Local storage is a dedicated backup drive at your place of business where you make Full, Incremental, or Differential copies of your data. Storage media are storage devices such as thumb drives, external or internal hard drives, CDs, or DVDs. Depending on your particular needs, any one of these can work. Having a backup on-site enables you to restore lost data quickly. There are risks to locally-stored data, particularly when confronted with natural disasters.
Data backup and Off-site Storage
Off-site storage is an external storage media used to back up and store data at an off-site location. Because it’s stored off-site, it provides additional protection against catastrophic events. Methods of uploading your backup are the Internet or with a physical connection. Both are effective; however, a physical connection requires employees on location to facilitate the backup process. We can store your backup files and facilitate restoration if needed.
Data backup and Cloud Storage
Cloud Storage is a virtual platform that provides off-site, scalable storage resources, dynamically provisioned per the business’s technical requirements. That’s a lot of technical words! In a nutshell, it’s a virtual hard drive that enables you to upload backups to encrypted servers and access them when needed. Servers all over the world store your backup files. As a result, setting up cloud storage for a business is more involved than setting up an Apple ID and iCloud account. Bit Perfection can take care of setting up and managing your cloud storage backup — taking the guesswork and frustration out of protecting your data.
What We Recommend
Regardless of your business size, data backup is an absolute necessity. So, Bit Perfection uses a multi-copy approach to data backup and storage— the original file (your computer or server), one on-site backup, and one off-site backup. Our strategy for data backup and storage affords you the best protection for your investment so call today and have Bit Perfection talk about the perfect solution for your business.
Business Continuity Disaster Recovery Strategy
In conclusion, when investing in a data backup strategy, it’s important to have in place the plan on how to restore data and your systems in the case of a catastrophic event. The objective of a BCDRS is to get you up and running with minimal downtime. Therefore, every company regardless of size needs a Business Continuity Disaster Recovery Strategy. At Bit Perfection, we believe that every minute you aren’t operational is lost revenue. Our goal is to get your data and systems operational in order for you to get back to business. It’s more than just having a copy of your data, it’s about how you store it and plan on restoring it! For more information about BCDRS, please read our article explaining the primary components and basic safeguards essential to an effective backup and recovery plan.