There’s a saying you may have heard before: “Two is one and one is none”. This simple phrase emphasises the importance of having a backup plan. Things can get lost or even break in the field. It’s why skydivers always have more than one more parachute on any given jump. If the main parachute malfunctions for any reason, they can disconnect it and deploy the reserve parachute to safety.
It’s an extreme example but it illustrates an important point that’s also applicable in business – You need to have redundancy. No business owner likes to think of the possibility of losing their valuable data. The reality though is that the future is never absolutely certain. Anything can happen.
Here we’ll look at how utilising backup software can save your business.
Protects Against Cyberattacks
Headlines of recent cyberattacks always seem to involve major corporations. It makes perfect sense as larger companies tend to have tons of customer data including credit card numbers, email addresses, and other personal information. This doesn’t mean your business is in the clear though. In fact, quite the opposite.
No organisation is immune to attack no matter how large or small. A report by Verizon found that 43% of data breaches in 2018 involved small businesses. Attackers often target companies for financial gain. One common way is through by injecting malware in a user’s computer which can only be removed by paying a ransom. This is known as ransomware and accounts for nearly 24% of incidents where malware was used.
Without a backup you’re left with few choices. Even if you pay the ransom there’s no guarantee that the attacker will remove the malware and you’re only encouraging future attacks. Accidents can happen in which someone in your organisation may unknowingly download an infected program. Recent backups can be restored prior to the attack and you can continue about your work with minimal disruption.
Protects Against Natural Disasters
Your business information isn’t just vulnerable to cyberattacks. Natural disasters also pose a threat to any data that’s stored in a physical location. Examples include fires, floods, earthquakes, and landslides. Just one of these natural events is all it takes to completely destroy any servers you use, making data recovery virtually impossible.
A natural disaster can strike at any moment. That’s yet another reason why your business needs to utilise some type of backup software. Suffering from any kind of data loss no matter the cause can result in lost revenue for your business. With backups you can do a complete restore from a previous point in time and still continue working from those files.
Protects Against Hardware Failure
The easiest (and perhaps the most common) way of creating backups is simply copying files and moving them onto an external hard drive or other storage device. While it’s certainly better than having no backups, this method is still not completely foolproof. We’ve already mentioned that hardware is susceptible to extensive damage in the event of a natural disaster.
But something else worth mentioning is that the lifespan of storage devices like hard drives is between three to five years on average. As certain parts gradually wear down, some hard drives can begin to malfunction or even crash entirely. Data recovery may be possible but it depends on many factors.
Then there’s also the fact that you would need to be diligent about copying your files over. Most backup software solutions allow you to schedule daily backups and even automate the process of storing copies of your data on remote servers.
Whether your business offers SEO services or something completely different, utilising backup software is an absolute must. You can never predict what might happen in the future but at least you can mitigate damages from data loss as much as possible. Contact DP Computing to help your business implement a backup strategy today.
Author’s Bio
Alex Morrison has worked with a range of businesses giving him an in depth understanding of many different industries including home improvement, financial support and health care. As the owner of Integral Media, he is now utilising his knowledge and experience with his rapidly increasing client portfolio to help them achieve their business goals.