In order for a small business to capitalize on a strong data backup service, its IT team needs to do thorough data backup planning and strategizing. Every employee should be familiar with what to expect when restoring to a backup is necessary so that business operations can return to normal as fast as possible. A strong data backup plan will take into consideration the frequency and security of backups in order to ensure the integrity of stored data in the event of a successful cyberattack and to try limit the amount of lost data.
Setting a Recovery Time Objective
A recovery time objective is a goal your business sets in the event of restoring to a backup, and it outlines how fast the network should be up and running again along with how much data loss is acceptable. Data will be lost in the recovery process because the entire network will be taken back to a previous restoration point, so any changes made to company data between the restore point and the present moment will be lost. This process makes data backups a strong tool against ransomware and other persistent malware, but it also means your company needs to know when restore points are created and have expectations for when things will be back to normal.
Scheduling Data Backups Regularly
For effective backup planning, a small business should gauge how many days’ or weeks’ worth of data is acceptable to lose when recovering from an attack. While losing any amount of data is unappealing, strategizing how long it would take your business to recover lost work can help mitigate the side effects of restoring your network. More importantly, not attending to backup planning could cause the business to lose more data if a restore point is made every month instead of every two weeks. Your IT team should work with your managed service provider or IT consultant to set restore points at intervals that make sense for your business.
Ensuring Data Security and Compliance
Data backup planning should also include taking a look at the backup service currently in use at the company. In many cases, it will be on the business to ensure backup securities stay in line with compliances like NIST and HIPAA, so your IT team should verify that your backup service keeps you compliant. Your backup service should also include basic protections needed to keep your data safe from ransomware that looks for data backups to encrypt during an attack. This means you should talk to your MSP about backup options that are stored off-site and have a write once, read many (WORM) function.
Summary
Because backups can disrupt employee workflows and set a business back days or weeks, they are often the last resort solution to a cyberattack that can shut the business down. This makes data backup planning essential because every business wants to mitigate data loss and get employee productivity back to normal as swiftly as possible. If you think your business needs assistance with backup planning, then our team here at Robinett Consulting wants to provide the personalized IT consulting you need to serve your clients safely and securely.
