In today's digital age, data is the lifeblood of every business, regardless of its size. From customer files and emails to financial records and proprietary information, your data is a critical asset. But what happens when that asset is suddenly gone? What if your computer crashes, is stolen, or a ransomware attack locks you out of your own files? The ability to continue operating your business in the face of such a disaster is not a luxury—it's a necessity. This is where a robust data backup and recovery strategy becomes one of the most vital components of your business operations.
Understanding the Basics: More Than Just a Copy
For those just starting in business, the concept can seem technical, but it’s quite straightforward. Data backup is simply the process of taking a copy of your important information so that if something happens to the original, you can still operate and recover it. It’s about ensuring you can get back to where you were before the data was lost, allowing you to continue your business, maintain compliance, and even secure essential cyber and business insurance. Ultimately, a solid backup plan will save you money and allow you to continue to operate, no matter what happens.
The High Stakes: Risks and Headaches of Inadequate Backup
Without a solid data backup strategy, businesses expose themselves to significant risks and headaches. You truly discover how effective your strategy is only when you desperately need to implement it. Suddenly, you're forced to ask critical questions you should have answered months or years ago:
- Do I know what my mission-critical data is?
- Do I know how to get it back?
- Do I know how long it will take to be operational again?
Losing a file, your email, or access to a critical portal means you are suddenly unable to focus on operating and growing your business. You lose immense productivity. Think about the frustration of simply trying to recover a password when you have two-factor authentication issues; now, magnify that frustration across your entire operation.
One of the most critical factors is the recovery time. It's essential to determine how long your business can acceptably be down. There is a direct correlation between the time it takes to recover and the cost involved. If you can afford a swift recovery, you can get back to being operational quickly. Without that strategy in place, you are going to find yourself in a really bad situation.
Defining a Solid Strategy: The Three Pillars of Protection
So, what does a "solid data backup strategy" actually entail? The strategy revolves around three core pillars: your data, your operational needs, and your tolerance for downtime. A complete plan defines:
- What the data is: Identifying your mission-critical information.
- Where the data lives: Knowing the location of your data, whether on local servers, workstations, or in online portals.
- Recovery Time Objective: Defining how much time you can afford to be without your data and still function effectively and generate revenue.
Once you have these three pieces in place, you have a good strategy. However, the execution is the key part. It is absolutely critical to not only execute the backup but also to test it. A backup is completely worthless if you can't recover from it. Many clients have come to us believing they had a good backup, only to discover when it was needed that the backup had failed to execute properly or was unreadable. You must know that your backup is good and readable.
The Dangers of Onsite-Only and Basic Backups
Many businesses might think a simple external hard drive is enough. While it can be one piece of a backup plan, relying on it alone is dangerous. A local hard drive can be damaged, stolen, or left at home. Crucially, if you suffer a ransomware attack, that local backup can be infected too. It can also be easily stolen without you noticing for some time.
Furthermore, who is ensuring that the backup is actually being performed and, more importantly, tested? Are you certain you can recover data from it? You are also limited by storage capacity; you might only be able to keep 10 days of backups, but what happens if you need to go back 11 days?
This is why having data in another location is so important. At Kehr Technologies, we follow the 3-2-1 backup methodology:
- Have
three copies of your data. - On
two different types of media. - With at least
one of those backups stored offsite.
We achieve this by utilizing the cloud, which provides all the advantages of a separate, offsite location. This ensures it won't be infected by a local virus or damaged by a fire or tornado, allowing you to recover regardless of the circumstances.
Real-World Scenarios: When Backup Saves the Day
Consider a dentist or an eye doctor's office. All of their patient histories and imaging are stored on a local server. If that server goes down—even if the internet is working perfectly—they are no longer able to operate. They can't treat patients or receive revenue. Depending on how long it takes to recover, they could be out of business for days, damaging their reputation and potentially losing clients permanently. For the patient, this could mean being unable to get service, even if they are in pain.
This isn't limited to the medical field. Nearly every business today relies on data. Sometimes it's historical data you need for compliance reasons or to answer a client's question about a previous charge. Having a good plan and access to that data in a timely manner is critical to keeping your business functioning well.
Backup Frequency and Recovery Time: A Tailored Approach
How often should a business back up its data? The frequency really depends on your specific circumstances.
- Some of our clients can't afford to lose any data because it changes so quickly, so they require instant backup.
- Other customers, whose data doesn't change very often—perhaps they only update a QuickBooks file on Fridays—don't require such frequent backups.
The necessary frequency often changes depending on the industry. Healthcare, for example, typically needs more frequent backups. Construction may not need to be as frequent. The decision depends on how you use your data and how critical ready access is, often driven by compliance rules like HIPAA, which can require you to be able to go back several years.
Similarly, the time to recover is not one-size-fits-all. We have customers who can go a week without certain data, and our plan for them reflects that, saving them costs on hardware and software. We have other customers who cannot afford any downtime; if they're down for even five minutes, their productivity is greatly diminished and they are unable to perform services and collect revenue. For them, we have solutions that allow recovery within a few minutes, not only locally but also in the cloud in case of a fire or other physical disaster.
A Critical Defense Against Cyber Threats
In the face of modern cyber threats like ransomware, a comprehensive backup and recovery plan is a critical line of defense. Bad actors will often infect your data and then dwell in your network for days or even months before making their move. There are many examples of attackers dwelling in a network for 90 days. If your backup history only goes back 30 days, your backups are already infected, and your ability to recover is severely impacted.
This is why having depth in your backups—or multiple recovery points going far back in time—is essential. Before you're in a critical situation, you need to ask yourself how far back in time you can go, because you may not know exactly when the problem occurred. Having a good backup in place allows you to go back to a time before you were infected and recover your data onto a clean platform, getting you operational again without the infection.
Your First Step and Choosing the Right Partner
For business owners who feel overwhelmed, the first practical step is to assess your current situation. You have to understand your mission-critical data and where it lives. This assessment involves looking at everything: your servers, workstations, and even third-party portals you rely on, like QuickBooks Online. Understanding where everything is, what compliance rules apply, and how long you can afford to be out of business are the first steps to building your strategy.
When a crisis hits, your hair is going to be on fire. You need to know who you're going to call and feel comfortable that they understand your business and can handle the problem. This is where Kehr Technologies truly stands out.
The first question you should ask is, "How quickly am I going to get help?" At Kehr Technologies, we are very responsive. We answer the phone, we are local, and we can be on-site quickly if needed. We will know your business, understand your situation, and know how to recover your data to get you back up and running the way you need to be, quickly.
Another critical question to ask any provider is: who tests the backup? Are you getting a report validating that it's a good, tested backup? Finally, even if you have a provider you trust, you should ask who they call when they need help. It’s important that your provider has a deep level of support they can rely on. At Kehr Technologies, we have that depth. We have a 24/7 provider who helps us and lives and breathes this work, so when necessary, we can get them on the phone to help us recover. We have the big guns at a higher level when we need them.
