It's no joke why this day comes right before April Fools.

Regardless of how large or small your business may be, data is an essential aspect of running it. Loss of business data leads to business paralysis, loss of productivity and income.

Here are some scary data loss statistics in 2021 to keep in mind:

• Around 40-60% of small businesses will never reopen after data loss
• The total cost of a data breach in 2020 was $3.86 million on average
• The average cost of downtime for large enterprises is more than $11,600 per minute
• 30% of all computers are already infected with malware

Data Backup Tips for Your Business

Here are five practical steps you can take to reduce the risk of data loss in your business.

1. Organise your files systematically

Standardising how you organise your data is key. This step not only reduces the risk of losing data but also lessens the amount of time it takes you to retrieve your data at a later point in time. Sound file organisation is an important step to take when it comes to data loss prevention. Without a consistent system of file organisation you also risk deleting important data in your system by accident.

2. Select the right backup service for your business

Keep a few things in mind to help you choose the best cloud services backup provider for your organisation. What is your cloud services provider’s value? Be clear on how they will secure your files. Take consideration of their storage capacity and location. And more importantly, get to know how quickly your files will be restored. Click here for more backup services options.

3. Have a good data recovery plan

Regardless of size, every company must recognise and evaluate business risks. Moreover, clearly communicating to your team what should be done when a disaster occurs is very important. When writing a disaster recovery or business continuity plan, it is important to take note of risks and events that may occur outside of IT.

4. Test your backup and explore your recovery environment

You need to test the recovery process as if a data loss or data breach is taking in place. When testing the restoration of your most critical data, it’s helpful to have a recovery environment so you can double check functionality of the environment once it is restored. The recovery environment can be scaled down to fit what you are testing.

5. Limit access to your data backups

Setup access policy on back up vaults. Limiting the number of people who can access your data backups is an added layer of security. Control your data channels and limit access to those who have a responsibility in disaster recovery and business continuity. 

Protection of your Customers’ Data

While it is important to back up your business files, you also need to make sure that your customers are protected. If your business stores critical information for customers, you should have it backed up and you should be prepared to recover it whenever a loss happens.

Businesses that do not back up their database will find it extremely difficult to thrive in a modern business environment.

At the end of the day, the amount of data you store will continue to increase along with the growth of your business, and you need to be able to manage your data effectively and with utmost care. Prevent business data loss by choosing a suitable database backup system for your business.

andersenIT understands that data is critical to your business. Let us share our many years' experience of safeguarding our clients' data.

Have more questions about our data backup plan and services? Call us on 1300 428 248 or fill out your details below and we’ll be happy to assist you!