Protect Your Business and Data
As we head into a new decade, data backup is more important than ever. Data loss can happen for a variety of reasons: hardware or system malfunction, viruses/malware, natural disaster, and even human error. Any of these can devastate a business, so having a solid data backup strategy is vital.
Protect your business and your data in 2022 with these data backup best practices:
Data Backup Best Practices for 2023
Use Offsite Storage
Offsite storage can be cloud-based or a physical server in another location. It protects your data in the event your central server is compromised in some way. A natural disaster (like the hurricanes we sometimes experience here in Raleigh) can destroy an on-site server, causing a massive loss of data which devastates your business.
Follow the 3-2-1 Rule
Utilizing remote storage is just one component of the 3-2-1 Rule. This rule says to keep 3 copies of your data on 2 different devices/mediums with 1 off-site storage solution.
An example of data backed up according to the 3-2-1 Rule would be a main server in a business’s headquarters, a cloud backup, and a backup NAS drive. This ensures your data is backed up no matter what happens.
Backup Your Data Regularly
If you are not backing up your data on a regular basis, or you’re doing it regularly but infrequently, make setting up backups at regular intervals a priority in the new year.
We recommend performing a backup, at a minimum, once a week. However, it’s preferable to back up your data every 24 hours. You can manually perform backups or set them to automatically be performed at an interval of your choice.
Encrypt Your Backups
Encrypting your backups adds an extra layer of security and ensures that everything will be what you expect if you ever need to recover it. Your IT service provider can help you determine if your backups are currently being encrypted and, if not, how best to encrypt them.
Think About Endpoints
Endpoints are the phones, tablets, and computers your employees use to carry out their duties. These devices store data and unless they are specifically backed up, the data on them will be lost if the device fails or gets lost or stolen. Most data backup plans include backup for individual devices. You’ll want to make sure you have this in place in the new year.
Take BOYD Into Account
By the same token, if BYOD (bring your own device) is something your company participates in, you need to take it into consideration when thinking about backing up your data. How will you handle personal devices that your employees perform work duties on? The easiest way to solve this problem is to not allow work to be done on personal devices. If you don’t want to restrict the devices that your employees use, your IT provider can help you arrive at a solution to protect your data and your business.
Make Us Your Managed IT Provider!
Get serious about securing your data in 2023 with managed IT services from Strategic Systems – A Division of CEI. With 24/7/365 monitoring, extended support hours, and after-hours availability, you can always be sure your business is in good hands. Learn how we can secure your data by scheduling your consultation. Call us at 919-781-8885 or fill out the contact form below to get started!