Having a thorough backup plan for recovering lost or compromised data is one of the best ways to keep your business running smoothly. With constant threats including viruses, malware, ransomware, infrastructure failure, software bugs, hackers, and more, your data can be at risk—but by separating your day-to-day operations from your recovery environment, your data is protected.
Safeguard your data with a backup plan.
An essential component of a strong disaster recovery plan is your backup plan. Ask yourself:
- When is the last time you reviewed the systems supporting your business?
- What is your application recovery plan? Do you have a plan in place if your systems fail?
- Have you recently reviewed its cost, functionality, recovery time objectives (RTO), and recovery point objectives (RPO)?
- Is your data safe? How quickly can it be recovered?
Using Microsoft Backup
There are several options when it comes to selecting your backup solution. One our team recommends is Microsoft Azure Backup.
Imagine trying to run a business without your data. In on-demand industries like healthcare, financial services, or construction, that’s impossible. But by integrating Azure Backup—Microsoft’s cloud-based backup as a service—you can back up your data in the cloud quickly and securely.
Through replication of systems and applications, your data is housed offsite for when you need it most.
Why Azure
Some companies choose to back up their systems using old server hardware. But recycling hardware is risky because its age and condition may make it unreliable. Plus, keeping the old hardware in top working condition can be both expensive and time-consuming.
For many businesses, using Azure to replicate and backup data in the cloud is more efficient and cost-effective than using a data center. It has a low barrier to entry, and you pay only for the services and storage you use. You don’t have to worry about old hardware running correctly, and if you need more storage, Azure is scalable—which means you won’t have to make compromises with your resources. Storing your data in the cloud also provides geographic separation between onsite servers and backup data.
Security and Testing
Azure is known for its top-notch security and privatization features. It also allows your IT team to perform test runs without being disruptive to your current environment. This is useful because it’s good practice to test your backup environment at least once per year (ideally quarterly) to make sure it can be up and running as fast as possible when needed.
How can Resultant help?
We work with many clients to create backup plans designed to keep them up and running. Our process starts with a business impact analysis where we take a close look at your risks by asking questions including:
- What are your most important business processes?
- How much data do you use?
- Who are the key stakeholders in each area of your company?
- How are you documenting office operations?
- How do you manage user information?
- What’s your current plan for backup and disaster recovery?
- What data is critical for conducting day-to-day business?
- What are your recovery time objectives (RTO) and recovery point objectives (RPO)?
After the business impact analysis, we’ll create a backup plan to achieve the objectives we’ve identified.
A Failure to Plan is Planning to Fail
While you never expect an issue to occur, it’s important to have a backup plan in case it does. The right backup plan can save you significant time and money—and in some situations, it can actually save your business.
If you’re ready to create a backup plan, we’re ready to help. Contact us today to learn more about how we can protect your data using Azure Backup.
