Due to the increasing frequency of breaches and outages, a solid data backup strategy is more important than ever before. Additionally, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, there has been a massive increase in employees working from home, so it is important to protect data remotely in various locations.
This article covers everything from how your data is at risk; to data storage methods, locations, and costs; to recommended backup frequency and employee training, roles, and responsibilities. Using this guide, you’ll discover how to create a data backup strategy that meets the needs of your business. Alternatively, you can download a template for Salesforce disaster recovery at capstorm.com.
Step#1. Assessing the backup needs of your company
The first step is to estimate your organization’s backup requirements. Several factors should be considered. Let’s take a closer look.
How Do You Protect Your Data?
-As quickly as possible, you may need to restore data.
-Data recovery may be necessary.
-Clients might need to have access to your services.
-Databases, files, operating systems, and applications may need to be backed up.
If you have a comprehensive data backup plan, you’ll get back to work in less time. Your company’s backup solution should be determined by asking these questions. Also, consider what data is most important.
What Risks Do You Face?
Does my company have a history of hacking?
Is careless employee behavior a security concern?
What is the likelihood of flooding or wildfire damage in my area?
How do clients access data and services on my system?
Backup data must be stored for how long?
You can identify your risk by asking these questions
Step #2. Assessing Backup Options
After assessing your backup needs, you should then evaluate your backup options because what works for another company may not work for you.
Step#3. Budgeting
Creating a backup plan budget is the third step. The cost of some solutions varies. Installing new hardware may require downtime. The cost of cloud-based solutions is lower.
Here are several things you should know when setting your budget.
How much are you willing to spend?
Plan to allocate your budget to capital expenditures? Wouldn’t it be better to log it as a cost of operations? That’s an option, too.
How much would it cost you in the time of a disaster or cyber-attack?
Training employees to manage backups will cost how much? You will need to hire someone to manage backups if you do not choose BaaS.
You can avoid a high up-front cost if you choose backup as a service. However, you must know your needs and how much you need to spend.
Backups are not always adequately funded by companies. They aren’t considered a profit center for that reason.
A better perspective may be to see it as a data loss prevention solution.
Step#4. Choose a platform
Choosing the right platform is the next step. Your evaluations may have already given you an idea of what you need. Some companies prefer having multiple backup options. If you choose only one backup option, you may be covered. A cloud backup may be sufficient if you are certain you will have internet access. It would let you access your data from anywhere and at any time.
Cloud-based service providers are mainly criticized for their lack of confidentiality.
You may not want to trust an outside company with sensitive data. Some regulations prohibit it. Think about storing your backups off-site securely. You’ll be able to access them if your business is damaged.
Step#5. Data Backup Vendor Selection
It is always a good thing to request an RFP or proposal from a vendor before selecting them.
You will then know which options you have at your disposal. Consider all factors of the project as you compare quotes.
Some of these include:
-Implementation costs overall
-Optional features
-Estimated implementation time
-Vendor’s reputation
Taylor is a freelance SEO copywriter and blogger. His areas of expertise include technology, pop culture, and marketing.
