Why Are Data Backups Important For Organisations?

Are you aware of the importance of data backups and recovery? Well today, where critical business information is stored on computers and servers, keeping your data safe is more important than ever.

But what if something unexpected happens? What if your system crashes or your files get corrupted? That’s where data backup and disaster recovery come in.

The importance of data backup and recovery are protection against data loss, business continuity, mitigation of user error, compliance and data security, an advantage over competitors, customer trust and reputation and saving time and money.

As per the IBM Security Report 2023, the average cost of data breaches for UK businesses is £3.4 million. The UK industries with the highest average cost of data breaches were financial services (£5.3 million), services (£5.2 million) and technology (£4.9 million).

Let’s take a closer look at data backup and its components and why data backup and recovery are so important.

A data backup is a proactive approach to handling your data. A backup creates a duplicate copies of your data and stores these either on the Cloud or on a separate drive, this is typically your business critical data.

A backup is a form of protection, this protection protects you from many different vectors of approach. You’re protected from situations such as hardware failure, software failure, human error, a malicious attack by a third party or disgruntled employee, document corruption, power outages or Malware/Ransomeware.

Here is just a few reasons why having a data backup is so important:

As highlighted early, data loss can come in many forms such as hardware failure, malfunctions, software errors or human error.

Without having a data backup your business critical data is at risk and that can effect your day to day operations of your business.

Answer this, should you lose data that stops your employees working, how long could your business survive while down and not functioning?

No matter what your data loss is, it can potentially have dire consequences to your business.

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Having a regular backup means that you can quickly restore data, sometimes instantly allow your business to continue to thrive.

It is my strongest belief that a greatest weakness to an organisation can be the employees. However, on the flip side they are also the greatest assets.

No matter what kind of training is provided, human error is inevitable and sometimes humbling. A little like when you are a child and you touch a hot stove or plate, just as children we learn from our mistakes.

Whether it is accidental deletion, moving files/folders to the wrong place or overwriting files, we acknowledge mistakes can and will happen.

By having a proper backup in place it is possible to mitigate this and ensure that it can be quickly rectified.

It goes without saying that consumers generally trust organisations with their data, but why is that?

well naturally you assume that an organisation should have procedures in place to safe-guard and ensure your sensitive data is protected and free from prying eyes.

Should the worse happen and a data breach occur, no matter if it is personal, financial or business related information, the impact it could have on your business could be disastrous.

Having reliable data backups and recovery mechanisms in place demonstrates a commitment to protecting customer data, enhancing trust, and safeguarding the organisation’s reputation.

Protecting your data is not just the wise thing to do, it is often pound by regulation. Many industries are subject to stringent regulations governing data protection and privacy, such as GDPR, HIPAA, or PCI DSS.

Non-compliance with these regulations may lead to substantial financial penalties and harm to your organisation’s reputation.

Implementing robust recovery measures not only helps organisations comply with regulatory requirements but also enhances overall data security.

By encrypting backup data and implementing access controls, organisations can safeguard sensitive information and prevent unauthorised access or data breaches.

Surprisingly having a great backup solution can actually have an advantage when referring to your competition. If your organisation is in a great position to analyse their data and be able to restore mistakes at the drop of a hat, this can drive your business forward.

Compare this to a competitor that may not be in this position, a cyber attack could set them back or completely ruin their business and then your competition would be no more.

By having a secure backup and to insure the integrity of this data, will allow you to make informed business decisions, forecast future growth and have the confidence to grow your business without the worry of what is around the corner.

Yes, putting in a robust, secure backup solution does cost money. However, the data loss or downtime of not having this can far outweigh any upfront expense for a backup solution.

Recovering data without the right solution could be costly, it can result in using an expensive forensic data recovery company and there are no guarantees that will even work.

If you proactively backup your data and can confirm recovery would be successful, your organisation would save time and money. When budgeting you need to factor in this, just like when you pay for insurance, think of a robust backup like another form of insurance.

When picking a backup and recovery service, choosing the right provider is essential. Hamilton Group developed our Cygnatech Backup product to provide this service. Our backup service is tailored to your business needs, covering your desktop, servers and Microsoft 365.

Here is just a few reasons to consider Hamilton Group:

If anything discussed in this article is of interest to you or if you feel that you need to ensure that you have a backup that is working for you and not against you then get in touch.

Remember a lot of backup services will cost you a lot based on the data stored, we will not do that.

Simply call us on 01423 438953, fill out our form or book an appointment today!