Why do I need cloud backup?
Studies show that a critical data loss can have a devastating impact on a small business - in fact, in 2010 Gartner Inc. estimated that 43% of small businesses never re-open following a major data loss. Ransomware, malware, human error, employee malice, hardware failure, or natural disaster are just a few of the possibilities that can result in a shutdown of your business. An important component to your business continuity or disaster recovery strategy is the capability to back up and store your critical data to a secure offsite location, allowing you to retrieve it from any Internet-connected device should your organization experience a business interruption, catastrophic failure or the inability to access your place of business.
But all my data is already in the cloud.
Cloud service providers such as Office365, G-Suite, or Salesforce are not immune to failure, human error, or even malicious hackers. Backup solutions for those service providers are just as critical as those for on premise data. Ransomware attacks are on the rise again and those can affect data stored in file sync and share services such as OneDrive, G-Drive, and Dropbox.
Is it secure?
Your cloud storage providers should be ISO 27001, HIPAA, PCI-DSS, GLBA AND FRCP compliant. This means that data is securely encrypted before it leaves your premises, and is backed up automatically to cloud data-centers, which provide redundancy and security to the lifeblood of your business. Those data centers have appropriate sets of required physical, administrative, and technical controls to ensure that no breaches occur. When required, cloud backup providers can also provide geo-redundancy so that a regional outage does not affect access to your data.
It's all about recovery.
When necessary, restoring files securely over the Internet takes just a few mouse clicks. More advanced recovery solutions include the ability to run a virtual server either on-premise or in the cloud when needed in case of server failure or natural disaster.
As a business owner, ask yourself the question: If my local data storage fails or is inaccessible; or a file is lost, corrupted, or accidently deleted - can I have my data restored in a timely fashion without suffering business disruption? If you can't confidently answer yes, it's time to have a conversation with your IT provider.