Your Annual Reminder to Evaluate Your Backups
Your employees, data, and files are a few of your most important assets. When building a backup plan, there are two types of backups that you need to consider: backing up your files and backing up your business.
Does your business have a backup plan in place? Does your existing backup plan still suit your business in a new remote-first environment? Here, we’ll help outline:
- The pieces you should include in your data backup plan
- The people and workflows for your backup plan
- What High Touch can do to help
Back Up Your Business
Your file and image backup plan may look different now than it did at the beginning of the year. Many of us are now operating remotely, which presents new challenges for many businesses. It also requires learning more about how backups work and defining best practices.
Cloud backups
Cloud or hosted backup solutions store your files and data off-site. Generally, you’re able to access these files from anywhere, on any device, through a secure connection. If a disaster happens at your physical location, or if you’re unable to access your physical location, you can still access files saved to your cloud backup.
Cloud backups also make it easier and safer for you to share files with your enterprise, rather than relying on local file storage options.
On-site backups
Cloud backups are great, but there’s still a place for on-site backups in your business’s overall plan. For example, on-site backups are essential if your internet connection goes down or your cloud backup provider is unavailable.
You may also wish to keep important files close by in an emergency. Examples of on-site backups include a second internal drive, external hard drive, or even a flash drive.
Set a reminder to update your backups
With a cloud backup solution, you can typically set regular times to update your files automatically. For on-site backups, set a calendar reminder to ensure the drive is updated regularly.
Don’t forget to test your backups
Having backups is important, but just the first step. Additionally, you must remember to maintain and update your backups.
Even with automatic backups, unexpected issues can happen. The worst time to find out that your backup hasn’t been working is when you need it most. Be sure to check that your files are syncing with your cloud backup often by accessing your cloud backup from another device.
With your on-site backup, make sure you check that files are stored properly and accessible. When updating your on-site backup, be sure you can open the files and that the information is up to date.
Back Up Your People and Workflows
For World Backup Day, data backup is probably the first thing that comes to mind. As a technology company, it’s one of the things that comes to mind for us too.
Additionally, World Backup Day can be a great reminder to check up on your workflows and the people who make things happen for your business. In difficult times, it’s important to know who your backup is and who you’re backing up.
Policies and procedures
While you may have verbal backup and workflows in place, it’s important that you document them and share with your organization, so other stakeholders know whom to contact for help or assistance. In a backup situation, communication is important.
Organization and planning
Make sure your backups stay up to date with one other. If possible, have a system in place if you sense that a backup situation is on the horizon. This system should include the necessary documentation to complete critical tasks, important contact information, and any critical files needed to complete tasks. Regular meetings can help primary contacts and backups stay in touch.
We Can Help Back You Up
When in doubt, High Touch can help you manage your data backup solutions. Through our IT Consulting services, we can also help you address any critical backup needs in your technology workflows, or if needed, stand in as a backup or supplement your company’s internal IT. Contact us to learn more.