How Backing Up Your Data Can Save Your Business's Life

This March 31st is World Backup Day, a globally celebrated date to raise awareness on the importance of data security, backups and preventing data loss for businesses. Created to fall straight before April Fools Day, to encourage individuals and businesses to secure their digital files through copies, and to not be foolish in forgetting to back up their data.

With the eerily increasing number of ransomware attacks and accidental data loss incidents, it's an important day which reinforces an important message: businesses need to make regular data backups.

All businesses rely on critical data to function, such as orders, payment details and customer information. Now imagine all these crucial details are lost in a data breach, because you forgot to make copies. Every business, no matter the size, should regularly update their data and store their copies in a safe and secure place, to ensure their operations can run if any damage or theft appears.

To emphasis data protection, we've broken down the importance of data back-ups, their roles in the running of your business and what steps you can take to safeguard your businesses critical digital assets.

What is a backup?

A backup is when you make a copy of your most important digital files, including documents, emails and photographs. Yet instead of simply storing them on your laptop or phone, you deposit the copies in a secure and safer location, such as Cloud Storage providers or Managed IT Services.

Compare it to when homeowners give a second pair of house keys to their most trusted neighbors, you are keeping copies in a secure area in case you accidentally lose or someone steals the original pair.

Why should businesses back up?

Losing data files is far more critical than most businesses anticipate, as one small mistake can lead to the destruction of all your vital and cherished assets.

The cause of data loss can be a result of human-error, as we accidentally delete files which cannot be recovered, or cyber criminals can infiltrate data systems and retain all your businesses crucial information.

A staggering 29% of all data loss cases are caused by accident, and according to the government's Cyber Security Breaches Survey, 32% of UK businesses are subjected to a cyberattack over a 12 month period.

But having backups of your crucial information means your business can recover and operate as quickly as possible, without having to suffer huge blows from human error and data breach incidents.

How could it affect your business?

Data loss can cause a complete standstill to your businesses operations, making it impossible to execute orders, pay bills or communicate with customers without crucial payment and customer details.

A relevant example on the importance of data backups for businesses is the recent technical disruptions occurring in Hargreaves Lansdown. The Bristol-based financial services company, which oversees private investments for over two million people, faced technical issues which affected its website and mobile app, impacting clients' ability to access their accounts, move money and place trades.

Whilst there was no evidence of a cyber attack or data breach, the negative response which it sparked in its customers shows the impact technical issues can have on your business if no back-ups are in place. It can cause slow recovery, dissatisfied customers and even reputational damage, as your clients could move their business elsewhere due to a lack of trust.

Mini guide on how to backup

When it comes to backing up your data, there are four things you need to consider:

- Determine which data needs backing up: You need to identify your critical data and the files which your business couldn't run without. Typically consisting of emails, contacts, payment details and documents which are stored on your computer or phone.

- Keep data separate from your computer: Move any important data onto a USB stick or onto a separate disc, to ensure your copies are not accessible by staff and so both your copies aren't lost as a result of theft or human error.

- Review the Cloud: Incorporating cloud storage (when a third-party provider stores your data on their systems) means your data is separate from your location and shielded from local hardware failures.

- Make backing up a regularity: These days, most network or cloud storage systems allow businesses to make backups automatically, which makes it even easier to ensure your personal business information is fortified.

If you're looking for a third-party server to safeguard your back-ups, Jibba Jabba's Cloud Solutions provide comprehensive managed cloud services to protect your file backups. With fully managed cloud servers tailored to your business, plus no costly upgrades, we offer reliable and scalable infrastructure hosted in secure UK data centres.