In the Face of All That’s Happening, Backup is All the More Important

Tomorrow is World Backup Day, which--considering the current business climate as the coronavirus pandemic rages on--seems only too appropriate. Let’s discuss why times like these make it only too clear how critical a business continuity strategy is, especially when supported by the right backup solution.

Disasters in the Business Sense

As far as a business is concerned, there are a lot of potential disasters out there that could have an impact. By definition, a disaster is anything that disrupts a business’ processes. By those terms, the COVID-19 outbreak clearly qualifies, but while we’re on the topic let’s identify some of the other potential disasters that could impact a business:

• Natural disasters, like:
  • Fires
  • Floods
  • Storms
  • Earthquakes
  • Tornadoes
  • Blizzards
    
    
• Criminal acts, like
  • Hacking
  • Ransomware
  • Sabotage
  • Hardware theft
• Human error, like:
  • Deleted data
  • Unauthorized shutdowns
  • Unsaved files
  • Lost/damaged devices

Another common theme in this list is the potential for data loss. Again, this only makes it more important that your business continuity strategies are squared away.

Identifying Business Continuity

Compared to a business disaster, business continuity is much simpler to define: whether or not your business can maintain an acceptable level of its operations even while experiencing some variety of disaster. Currently, this translates to how well your business can function with most of your employees staying home, either due to illness or as a preventative measure.

While the data recovery of a backup solution may not be needed now, the other benefits of storing your data in the cloud certainly are.

Look at it this way: if the only thing preventing an employee from working is the fact that going to the office could be risky, giving them remote access to their necessary resources would allow them to return to work without actually “returning” to the workplace. One of the most secure and reliable ways to enable this is to utilize the cloud’s many capabilities.

The cloud can give them the access they need to work with your business’ data from any device that you have authorized, while also protecting your data from all of the disasters listed above (provided the cloud is hosted offsite). Therefore, with the right preparation, your business could carry on throughout any of the disasters we’ve mentioned… or at the very least, bounce back much more quickly.

It is always important to keep in mind that the current health crisis doesn’t prevent other negative factors from influencing your business. Being prepared for anything is your best defense.

For assistance in making these preparations to help protect your data while looking out for your business and your employees, give SCW a call at (509) 534-1530.