Data loss is a nightmare for an IT manager, but there are steps you can take towards making your cloud data more secure. We know that it's sometimes difficult for small businesses to put a continuity plan in place against data loss, particularly if they have a limited IT budget. If that's the situation with your company, then cloud data backup could be the choice for you. There's no investment in infrastructure needed, most cloud backup providers have an easy-to-use interface so no training is required, and if your business loses access to some of its assets, then a data backup is usually able to restore everything quickly. Here we've put together some of the factors you need to take into consideration before deciding on which cloud backup provider to go for...
Which type of backup schedule will work best for your company?
If you need to do full data backups every day, then you're going to need a huge amount of storage, if however you do differential backups, you're exposing yourself to slightly more risk simply because more time is passing in-between you backing up your data. You shouldn't just set your backups and then forget about them, it's far more beneficial to come to a decision based on the unique needs of your organisation. Take those needs, along with the workload and demands of your business, into consideration and you'll soon be able to figure out what backup schedule your business needs.
Is there sufficient flexibility?
If you have big plans for your small business, then you'll want a backup provider that has flexibility when it comes to scalability and storage. Take time to understand whether or not any potential backup provider has the ability to grow alongside your business. If you choose the right one, you will have a solid foundation in place for your continuity planning.
Have you checked their uptime guarantees?
Cloud backup service providers will usually offer an SLA (service-level agreement), or a promise to any potential customers on their reliability. If you come across a provider that offers up a 99.99% access guarantee means they have a full commitment to ensuring their accessibility is always on point. You can usually expect excellent levels of customer service from those companies too.
Do you have enough bandwidth?
If your small business or start-up has a good few months, there's every chance that you will need to scale your workload rapidly, which could lead to you increasing your data hosting too. If that happens, you will need to talk to your cloud backup provider. Some available cloud service providers simply don't have the capacity when it comes to accommodating spikes, and others could end up charging you big fees just to scale the storage.
Shared or private?
This will largely depend on the nature of your business. Whilst some sectors may demand a private, dedicated infrastructure, others will be able to opt for shared backup. Take time to understand what kind of operations your business runs and whether a private cloud backup service is necessary for your business. It may be that you need to have private for compliance reasons, so understanding the link between compliance and your own backup requirements is vital.