As mentioned previously, Covid-19 is still causing havoc internationally and is showing very little sign of slowing down. This has posed a very particular set of challenges to employers that have been forced to adopt a home workforce to continue trading.
In the early stages of Covid-19, many business owners made migrating to the cloud a top priority and they were not wrong to – its services are proven to increase efficiency, help improve cash flow, and offer many more benefits to business functionality and long-term profits. But, a lot of them made the transition without the necessary preparation and forethought in mind, and, in turn, have experienced data loss or corruption with no way of getting their important or confidential data back.
There are many reasons to migrate to the cloud, branching from making processes more efficient to a sudden change in demand for operations (applying to most businesses this year). We all know the benefits of the Cloud – especially with its contributions to remote working – through its collaborative features and easy access to documents from any location with an internet connection.
But, what most don’t see as a priority is backing up the cloud.
Backing up the Cloud
You may ask, why do I need a backup for my cloud data? Isn’t it already backed up because it is on the cloud?
As much as they are a rarer occurrence in the cloud, as opposed to the risk of loss within your old in-house server, similarly, data loss or corruption can happen in the cloud as well; wherever there is sensitive data, there is the potential of someone attempting a breach and succeeding.
Think back to when you have lost a file from your computer or server. Your IT provider can use a previous timestamp from your backup service to recover your data, in turn allowing your business to function again, and not hinder your workflow.
In the cloud, you will too need to possess the very same ability of data restoration as you would have done with your in-house servers. The threat from accidental deletion, cyber-attack, or file corruption still exists – and just because your data is held within a cloud service, does not mean that it is backed up to the standard you would expect. Therefore limiting your abilities for file recovery, or removing the potential to recover lost or stolen data entirely.
Preparation is key! You need to have well-considered backup plans in place so as to avoid any data loss and ensure the continued functionality of your business.
Considerations in backing up your cloud services
As cloud services come in a number of different platforms, each working in different ways and with different levels of service depending on the provider; the levels of backup, disaster recovery and business continuity between systems likely differ.
Firstly, you need to document all of the systems and services where your data resides within the cloud and assess the default levels of the backup provided by each service.
For those services that do not provide a backup by default, you must investigate (with the help of a good IT provider), third-party alternative services to ensure any data contained within these unprotected systems are backed up in some form.
The speed and point of recovery will also differ between varying service providers. That means the time you must wait to be able to recover any lost data will be different, and potentially at an unacceptably slow speed that would impact your business operations. The point at which you can recover data matters also – if you could tolerate a loss of file updates made within the day, but must be able to recover files from the previous day, or require the ability to recover multiple file versions over the life of a document’s changes – or not – will dictate the level of backup service you require.
Be sure to test your data backups before using them to ensure your data is recoverable in the event of data loss or breach. Ensure your bandwidth is of good enough quality to recover your data quickly and easily; the adverse of which could mean hours or potentially days of downtime, while you wait to recover any data you have lost.
We hope that no one reading this needs to use their backup, but it is better to be safe than sorry, especially with the future of your business potentially on the line.
Do you need help making a pain-free transition to Cloud computing?
We at Onebyte are the IT service provider that delivers effective professional assistance and advice in the running of your business IT infrastructure. We can assist your migration to the cloud from start to finish, ensuring you make the right choices for your business while staying secure and backed up. Get in contact now!
