Some data might not need backup, while mission-critical data might require continuous data protection. The scope of the backup plan identifies those metrics: the data the organization must back up and the frequency of backups. These assessments are key for disaster recovery plans, but they can provide valuable input for the backup plan in terms of what to back up and how often. The business impact analysis determines the potential effects of a disruption to the organization's operations. The risk assessment identifies the issues that could negatively affect an organization's ability to conduct business. One of the first places to begin in creating a backup plan is to conduct a risk assessment and business impact analysis. The plan provides a starting point for backup and recovery activities. It's first important to make sure you have a data backup plan, as many organizations don't have one. What should be included in a backup plan? Off-site backup, which might go on tape cartridges, is also important to protect against a natural disaster or cyber attack that takes down a data center. The organization can centrally back up remote users' data to the cloud. Remote work is especially risky from a data protection point of view, because cybersecurity likely isn't as strong on the home network and users might be working on less secure personal devices. In a remote work environment, cloud backup is a valuable off-site resource.
In this concept, an organization has three copies of data, stored on at least two different types of media, with one copy sent off site. The 3-2-1 rule of backup is a solid strategy to follow. In a best-case scenario, your backup should lead to a quick recovery of at least mission-critical data. A proper data backup platform will enable the user to return to the last known good point in time before the problem hit. It's important to protect data from any potential issue so that an organization isn't blindsided when something happens. Why is data backup important for business?īackup protects data from several risks, including hardware failures, human error, cyber attacks, data corruption and natural disasters.