Discover what the best backup solution is for your business and learn about cloud backup solutions for small businesses. 

You hear it from us all the time.

“Backup your data.” 

And we’ll say it again and keep saying it because backups are crucial. They protect your business and ensure its continuity. It’s the very basic foundation that allows you to operate. It goes for any business – unless you have a good foundation, your business will crumble. 

Why do I even need to backup?

To avoid this.

Data loss happens. We see it happen a lot. Sometimes it’s accidental, sometimes not and other times it’s a comedy of errors. But there are still some businesses today that don’t have a backup plan in place. No matter the size of your business, you need a backup plan. That’s because: 

1. Customers expect you to always be available. If you’re not, you may lose out to your competitors.  
2. If a critical file, application, or system is lost (which happens more often than you think) without a backup it will take you a significant amount of time to rebuild it and return to close to the current state. That is your precious time wasted on something that could be entirely prevented by backing up.
3. You’re not going to earn money if a critical part of your business is down.  

Having a previous version of your corporate, customer, and employee data can mean the difference between a minor delay and a major meltdown. The choice is yours.

Where do I even start?

You need to backup all your data because everything that’s critical to the day-to-day running of your business should be backed up. From financial records and inventory databases to CRMs and other essential information. Backing up all your data isn’t nice to have. It’s essential. 

So the first step is figuring out how much data you’ll need to backup. There are various options depending on the size of data that you will store but generally speaking, Cloud backup services are the ideal solution for SMEs since they offer an affordable storage capacity. You can learn about the different options here, in our previous blog post.

The next step is working out how often you will need to back up. Perhaps some data will need to be backed up more often than others since it’s consistently changed and altered. Ask yourself ‘how old can my last backup be to avoid disruption?’. This will help to make sure that you’re performing backups frequently enough to minimize loss when restoring. We advise that you go for a backup option that allows you to automate the backups periodically since it will make your life easier and you will never miss a single backup.

Another question that you need to ask yourself is ‘how quickly will your data need to be recovered in order to prevent disruption?’ This will ensure that your systems and protocols can produce a rapid recovery which minimizes downtime that eats away your profit.

Your answers to these questions will help you decide on the best backup solution for your business.

3-2-1 Rule of Backup: A simple strategy for any business

An easy acronym for a common approach to keeping your data safe in even the worst-case scenario. It’s advised that all businesses follow this rule as it takes care of your critical data.

The rule is: keep at least 3 backup copies of your data, 2 backup copies stored on different storage mediums with 1 of them located offsite. 

You need to backup your software subscription data too which means office 365. Our blog here explained everything you need to know about Office 365 backups. 

Why Cloud Backup Solutions is ideal for small and medium-sized businesses

Backing up your data no longer has to be the nightmare it once was. Cloud backup services have made backup a much easier process. They are cheaper, simpler, and even safer than most solutions. This software will automatically – and periodically – upload an encrypted copy of your data (encryption makes your data unreadable, so if a hacker were to intercept and catch it midway, it will be completely useless for them) to the datacentre for safer and secure storage. We can’t recommend enough cloud backup solutions for small businesses.

Which Cloud Services do we recommend

Datto Alto: All-in-one backup solution for small businesses 

We see how small businesses create and rely on more data than ever before. The value of business data is growing and the risk of losing data has never been higher. 

This backup solution will give you enterprise-level data protection that is cost-effective. With this solution, your businesses will be able to bounce back quickly with ease. Datto Alto provides all the benefits that the cloud services can provide, this includes: 

• Automatic and periodic backups
• Restore options for any scenario
• Ransomware protection – which is now more important than ever before.
• Full system restores to keep you online.

Datto Cloud Continuity for PCs

This is a comprehensive solution for all your desktops and laptops. Datto Cloud Continuity will give you the confidence that in the event of loss or failure of a PC you will never lose critical data and systems that fuel your daily operations. Your business will be up and running in no time. We know from experience that Datto Cloud Continuity lives up to its promises, our clients especially have been satisfied with this solution.