Cloud platforms, the holy grail of data storage – or so many might think. While these platforms are a wonderful tool for storing and managing company data, they don’t provide foolproof data protection. Data stored in the cloud can still fall victim to malicious attacks, user error and accidental overwriting. It’s unlikely Microsoft or Googles servers will entirely fail but it’s very possible for someone in accounts to accidentally delete something they later need. Yes, cloud platforms are great for productivity, but when it comes to your business data, additional precautions are a necessity.
Why back up? Don’t Microsoft or Google do this already?
Microsoft and Google backup your data, but to protect their own interests – they perform backups to ensure that they can keep their systems up-and-running.
You are responsible for protecting your data from human error (due to malicious activity or innocuous accidents), misconfigured workflows, hackers, and viruses. Backing up your data is your responsibility and any help you get from Microsoft or Google in times of crisis is likely to be minimal at best.
How does it affect small businesses?
How important is your data? Can you continue to function if your data was accidentally deleted or corrupted/encrypted by a malware outbreak? If the answer is no then you risk interrupting your entire business, losing customers or clients, damaging your businesses reputation or suffering a financial loss. Depending on the level of backup and disaster recovery measures you have in place, recovering from an incident may take some time. As the age-old saying goes “time is money” and that certainly rings true in this situation.
Common errors businesses make
A lot of businesses assume that their data is safe and backed up by their Cloud provider, but this isn’t usually the case. Many don’t discover how insufficiently they have backed up their data until its too late. The best thing you can do for your business is check that you’ve got the protection you require. Plan for the worst while you are currently in the clear and save yourself the stress and heartbreak later on down the track.
So in short, Cloud solutions are a wonderful business tool for data storage and management- but your data is still at risk of loss, corruption or theft. Talk to your IT provider or call Cygnet today to discover the best backup software for your company.
What topics do you want to know more about?
As a community interest company, we aim to support local businesses and provide them with the best service possible, so they can focus on running their business and not on the IT helping them to do so. If there are any IT issues your company is facing or areas you would like some more information on let us know via info@cygnet.it, so we can keep this blog up-to-date and relevant to the needs of our local businesses.
If you require some personal advice on your businesses IT support needs, get in touch!
