Five things to consider when backing up data

Backing up your company’s data is an integral part of keeping you safe from cyber attacks. Imagine a situation whereby all customer details, orders and payment details are lost/stolen and you have next to no chance of getting them back. That’s the reality of a cyber attack on a business that hasn’t backed up its data.

Ensuring you are regularly backing up your most important data is key. It will allow you to recover quickly if data is stolen or lost, whether that be through a deliberate attack or an accident. Below, we’re going to run through five important considerations when it comes to backing up data, all of which you should study before starting the process.

Five considerations when backing up data

Identify key data

The first thing you need to do when backing up data is figure out which data you need/want to back up. To identify this data, ask yourself one key question – ‘what information could my business not function without?’ The answer to this question could be anything from email addresses to customer payment information but once you have the answer you can then start moving on to the actual backup.

Of course, some startups may consider more or all data as essential while others may consider only a small portion of data as essential. It’s important to appreciate that the more data you want to backup the longer the process will take and the more expensive it will be. However, this shouldn’t put you off from embarking on a data backup as if you don’t, then it will cost you more money and time in the future.

Figure out the location of the backup

First and foremost, make sure you don’t back your data up on the same computer as the originals. This would render the entire operation pointless. Instead, use something like a USB stick or a separate drive/computer for your data backup. Whatever you use, ensure that it is kept in a safe place that is only accessible by you or people you can absolutely trust.

If your business is large with several employees, then consider ensuring the data backup is inaccessible to staff. Additionally, ensure it isn’t permanently connected to the device holding the original copy of the data. A common solution for a data backup is to use cloud storage – more on that below.

Consider the cloud

Cloud storage is becoming more and more popular and you are more than likely already using it in some capacity without even realising it. Mobile phone storage is now saved on a cloud while most email servers also operate via a cloud storage system.

Using cloud storage means your data is physically separate from your location while it’s also very easily accessible. The only downside to cloud storage is that it does come at a cost, particularly if you need large amounts of space for a significant data backup. However, the specialist expertise that come with most cloud storage providers makes the cost well worth it.

Implement backups into your company strategy

Once you have decided where to backup your data, you can get on with performing the actual backup. However, this isn’t an activity that you can just perform once and assume you’re all good. Most businesses will continuously evolve and develop which means you will be gaining more data on a daily basis. Therefore, data backups need to be performed on a regular basis as standard.

Liaise with others

Data backups are something that all businesses should consider so liaising with other businesses of a similar size to yours makes perfect sense. There should be no shame in asking others for help and there is no reason to be coy with other companies over this issue as there is no advantage to be gained from a business point of view in withholding data backup insights.