Data Backups: 4 Reasons Why They Are Essential for Your Business

Data backups are important these days.

But before we talk about data backups, let’s answer this question: what is data? It can be your customer and patient information, QuickBooks numbers, sales analyses, product photos, videos – all the various files and bits and pieces that essentially comprise the lifeblood of your business.

Losing it can be detrimental in a number of ways , from relatively minor annoyances (accidentally deleting important work and having to backtrack) to potentially business-ending catastrophes (data breaches and theft of customer data and information).

And then there’s Mother Nature and the mortality of hardware. An unexpected flooding, natural disaster, or even sprinklers ruining your equipment could be back-breaking without any backups to restore.

Read on to see why data backups are so important in this digital age.

1. Cybersecurity risks

You hear about it in the news all the time: cyber attacks causing havoc on businesses of all sizes the world over.

Whether it’s through social engineering, phishing emails, business email compromise, ransomware, brute force attempts, or any number of attacks, hackers are after your data, plain and simple.

Cleanup after a successful attack can certainly be costly. But there are other costs, both monetary and otherwise, that business owners may not be thinking about. These include compliance violations, losses due to downtime, and a hit to one’s reputation.

The sheer number of ways your network can be attacked makes it difficult to anticipate what can come. But awareness of the threats and trends, good digital hygiene, and layered cybersecurity can all help minimize the risks.

And having good backups can be one of the best ways to deal with cybersecurity threats. After a successful attack, you will have the option to essentially go back in time and restore a stable version of your data – and get back to business!

2. Natural disaster

Human adversaries may pale in comparison to the sheer destructive capabilities of Mother Nature.

A tornado, earthquake, or other calamities may befall your facilities, and your computers may be completely destroyed. This possibility underscores the need to have not just backups, but also off-site replication. If your backups are in the same location as your data, that data can be destroyed at the same time.

In the unfortunate event of total disaster, if you have backups off-site, you’ll be able to restore your data and systems to new hardware.

3. Hardware failure

Don’t overestimate your computers and hard drives.

They aren’t invincible.

Business-critical functions, customer data, and your staff’s work can be lost if a key piece of hardware decides to finally fail.

Having your data backed up can be the perfect “insurance policy” for your computers and hardware.

4. Human error

We’ve all done it.

Accidentally deleted files. Botched an update (or neglected to do one). Caused irreparable damage to an actual piece of hardware.

Humans aren’t perfect. Backing up your important data can be the perfect failsafe for potential blunders. And blunders will happen.

Ready to get on the path to good data backups?

With so many ways for data to get damaged, deleted, or outright destroyed, it’s important for businesses of all sizes to consider data backups.

Getting on the path of data backups is just the first step. You’ll also need to ensure you use the correct type of backups.

As mentioned above, off-site replication is critical to ensuring your data doesn’t get wiped out in one fell swoop. And backup verification is crucial. You must be sure all that data you’re backing up is error-free and ready to go should you need it.

You’ll want to develop an action plan for data recovery for your business, outlining a list of possible threats, your IT assets, policies, contingency plans – basically, what you need to take care of when disaster strikes.

Because there are numerous variables to contend with and options to consider – and careful, comprehensive planning to make – many business owners are choosing managed data backups from a good managed service provider.

Get help from the data backup experts at Thrive

Thrive is an experienced MSP. We’re nationally recognized and have many years of focusing on data backups for small and medium businesses. By honing our skills in SMB and within select industries such as healthcare, manufacturing, legal, and finance, we know the ins and outs of not just data backups, but also compliance and other related, significant matters.

Ready to learn more about managed data backups? We’d love to help! Contact us today for a free backup consultation.