We all depend upon data systems within our business. It is really important to ensure that your data is protected against accidental or malicious corruption. Backing up your data gives you comfort that you can recover your data should the worst happen. It is really important that you check that you can recover data from your backups. There are many reason why you might need to restore:
- you have a new device and you want to copy existing files onto it.
- your device is lost or stolen.
- your device breaks.
- the data on your device is accidentally deleted or becomes unreadable.
- a virus or other type of malware such as ransomware may erase your data or prevent you from accessing it.
- your hard drive needs to be erased or replaced.
It is really important that you consider the type of backup solution careful. Ensure access to your data system can be achieved within an acceptable time period. You will also need to ensure that your backup offers acceptable levels of data loss. You may be required or desire to have multiple data restore points of your data for operational or regulatory requirements.
Your cloud service also need to be backed up as they these typically operate with a shared responsibility. The responsibility to recover your data normally falls to you and not with the cloud provider. Microsoft and Google both operate a shared responsibility service so consider backing up your data held in their cloud service.
Choose a backup strategy that meets all your business requirements by:
- taking the data offsite automatically.
- covers you cloud and on premise backup.
- has multiple restore points.
- can be tested without impacting your live data.