Data Backup Strategies: Safeguarding Your Small Business’s Digital Assets

Resilience has been the watchword for global businesses since the onset of COVID and the subsequent supply chain disruptions. We’ve all come to appreciate the power of contingency plans that allow us to continue operations when the outside world has devolved into chaos. But what happens when chaos erupts within our own computer network, destroying or making inaccessible the data we need to transact business?

An important aspect of resilience is the ability to recover data in the wake of a disaster and continue operations as normally as possible until the crisis is resolved. Events that could cause a catastrophic data loss include storms, fires, power outages, earthquakes, and cyberattacks. Should any of these events occur, your data could be wiped out, and you would be operating your business blindly until that data is restored. If you haven’t implemented a reliable backup strategy, the loss of your digital assets could be fatal. But a well-designed, comprehensive backup plan can reduce the risk to a minor inconvenience.

What your small business digital backup plan protects

Think of all the information you store on your company’s database: customer information, product information, orders, receivables, fulfillment pipeline, and on and on. It’s the up-to-the-minute history of your company. In the old days, some of these records would be typed in triplicate and the paperwork would be filed for safekeeping. Today, since almost all storage is digital, company records can be wiped clean with the click of a mouse. Because this type of loss would be catastrophic for your business, you need a reliable digital backup plan.

Best practices when implementing a data storage and recovery plan

A small business backup plan should address the way you do business and the particular risks you face. It requires a thorough inventory of your vulnerabilities and practical solutions to every worst-case scenario. Although it’s possible to be flexible with a backup plan, there are certain elements that are essential and constitute the best practices for digital storage and recovery:

• Remote location — When we talk about storage in the cloud, we mean using servers at a remote location. To protect your data against a physical threat, such as a natural disaster or a criminal act (for example, arson), you want your backup servers to be offsite, preferably at a distance that places them well out of reach of the forces that damage your worksite. If the disaster that damages your office is a storm, you don’t want your backup servers to be in your now flooded basement.
• Frequently occurring — When disaster strikes, you don’t want to learn that your last backup is two weeks old. Your plan must schedule automatic backups frequently enough to ensure that as little data as possible gets lost. How frequently a backup happens depends on a few factors, such as the volume of data you accumulate during operations, the amount of data that is sensitive and/or difficult to reconstruct, the extent to which backing up data slows your network, and your budget.
• Segregation — Your stored data should be walled off from your network, so your employees do not inadvertently tamper with it, and so hackers have a harder time breaching your defenses.
• Encryption — As an added layer of defense, backed up data should be encrypted, so that if hackers are able to breach the storage servers, they will still not be able to read the files. This can prevent hackers from distributing personal data for identity theft. It also prevents hackers from extorting your business, since they can’t use the files as they’re threatening to.
• Flexible restoration — Not all data losses are catastrophic, so there may be no need to restore every byte of data. It’s much more efficient, both in terms of time and expense, to restore only what was lost. You also want to prioritize the restoration, so the data you need to get back to work comes first.
• Employee training — Many aspects of your backup plan are automated, so they do not depend on your workers taking affirmative steps. However, your workers must understand the importance of cyber security and their role in protecting sensitive data.

As with any business strategy, you should seek the guidance of a reputable professional. Many small businesses turn to managed service providers that have the infrastructure ready to accommodate their needs, along with the specialized knowledge required to implement a reliable plan. At KMF Technologies, our IT specialists take the time to learn about your company, so we can tailor a trustworthy plan to meet your needs and for your budget. Give us a call today.