Small business backups: how to assure SME business continuity with bulletproof cloud backups

Are your small business backups left in the hands of your cloud software vendors like Microsoft and Google?  If so, you’re one of many who are leaving their SME business continuity very much to chance.

Cloud storage is fast becoming the most popular way to store documents and files for both businesses and individuals. However, there is a common misconception that data stored in the cloud is ‘backed up.’

While providers like Microsoft and Google guarantee access to their platforms, they do not guarantee the safety or backup of the data stored within them.

For SME businesses, this highlights a critical need for separate backups that are regularly checked and tested to ensure data integrity and availability.

Small business backups can be needed in a host of instances – so make sure you have them.

Why SME business continuity relies on cloud backups

SME businesses often aren’t nearly as resilient as their large enterprise cousins.

Not only are their IT systems often less sophisticated, they often have a less formal SME business continuity strategy.  Where a large organisation might have multiple backup systems in place as a matter of course, small business backups are often far less organised – and are sometimes missed entirely.

SMEs are also less able to cope with the business, finance and operational interruptions that can arise as a result of any disruption – risking losing not just their own business and finance data, but essential data about customers or which enable service delivery.

When small business backups become business critical

Backing up your business data is vital, because it can be more easily lost or damaged than many SME leaders realise:

• Human Error: Simple mistakes such as accidental deletion of files can result in data loss. There is an increased risk of this in environments where multiple users have access to edit sensitive information.
• Malware and Ransomware: Ransomware can encrypt or corrupt your data making it inaccessible. Without a reliable backup, recovery from cybercrime can be costly or even impossible.
• Malicious Insiders: Employees or other insiders with access to data might purposely delete or tamper with crucial information. This threat highlights the importance of strict access controls and regular backups to protect you and your business.

The benefits of small business cloud storage backups

In the event of data loss, backups ensure that a business can recover its data and resume operations with less disruption – which can protect them against significant business risks as well as financial consequences.  Benefits include:

• Faster Recovery: backups of SME data enable quick restoration, minimising downtime and disruptions overall.
• Continuity of operation: Avoiding periods of low staff productivity and interruption to customer transactions, which can in turn disrupt cashflow.
• Clean data: Backups can protect against malware and ransomware attacks by keeping a pristine, clean and uncorrupted version of your data for restoration.
• Compliance and Legal Protection: Regular backups can help comply with data protection regulations and thus avoid potential legal consequences of compromised data.
• Reputation protection: as a corollary to compliance, companies who can demonstrate their good governance and efforts to protect data and continue operations can avoid some of the long-lasting potential reputation impacts of a disruption event.

How an SME can back up cloud storage

There are different options available to protect your SME business continuity by backing up your cloud data. Software and services are both available:

• Cloud-to-Cloud Backup: These services specialise in backing up data from one cloud provider to another. They offer automated backup solutions that can copy data from platforms like Microsoft SharePoint and OneDrive to another cloud storage service. They provide an additional layer of protection by storing data in multiple locations, reducing dependency on a single cloud provider.
• Third-Party Backup Software: There are various third-party backup software solutions designed to back up cloud data. These software solutions can often integrate with multiple cloud services and offer features like versioning, automated scheduling, and encryption. These tools can back up cloud data to another cloud storage, local devices, or even tape systems, providing flexibility and additional features for data protection and management.

These methods can be used independently or in combination to create a comprehensive backup strategy that ensures data security and continuity for your business. However, it is not always easy to identify the best route.

By far the best route to assuring SME business continuity is to approach cloud backups as part of a wider SME business IT strategy which incorporates robust and appropriate cyber security.

If you have questions, or would like to discuss how claireLOGIC could take away the stress of managing your IT services, cyber defences, and small business backups, then please contact us for a free consultation.