8 tips for developing a sound backup strategy for your small business

Whether your small business exists in the physical world or entirely online, you rely on an astonishing amount of data to serve the needs of your clients and keep your workers employed. In the digital age, there is nothing more important than information, and the loss of even a small amount of data could have huge implications for your business and its future. 

Keeping your data and your company safe has never been more important, but it can be a huge challenge for small business owners. Without a formal IT department to rely on, small-business owners are forced to make do with what they have, but that does not mean they cannot adopt a sound backup strategy. Here are eight timely tips to follow when creating your small business backup strategy. 

1. Create an inventory of devices. You may be surprised at how many devices you rely on in the day-to-day operation of your business, so establish an inventory and think about the various ways those devices are backed up. 
2. Turn on cloud storage and backup for mobile devices. The good news is that smartphones and tablets often come with built-in backups. Turning those cloud storage options on and making sure they are running should be an integral part of your small business backup plan. 
3. Create a written backup plan. It is easy to wing it when you are juggling so many balls and wearing so many hats, but it is important to sit down and write out a detailed backup plan for your business. This written plan can serve as a guideline, one you can rely on in the event of a disaster.   
4. Prioritize business continuity. Not all data is equally valuable, and the email you sent 10 years ago is certainly not as critical as the database of customers your sales staff uses every day. Placing a priority on data that is vital to your business will help you prioritize your program.
   

   More: Keeping Your Small Business Safe From Data Breaches – Dayna Thomas, Esq.

5. Consult with IT experts. Chances are you are not an IT expert, but some people are. Consulting with an IT expert, either on an occasional or regular basis, can help ensure your backup plan is running smoothly. 
6. Use remote backup for redundancy and security. Your on-site backups will not be of much use to you if your facility sustains a flood, fire, or another natural disaster. Remote backups are vital to the continuity of your business, so use them to protect your data. 
7. Automate your backup plan with dedicated software. As a small business owner, you cannot rely on manual backups to get the job done. Automating your backups with software will make your job a lot easier while avoiding the perils of human error. 
8. Test your backups regularly. Making backups is important, but knowing they are complete, accurate, and available is even more critical. If you are not testing your backups on a regular basis, you are only doing half of what you need to do. 

Large corporations work hard to keep their data safe. They hire IT experts to protect their servers, they conduct intrusion testing to assess their vulnerability to hackers, and they train their staff to recognize phishing attacks before it is too late. 

Small business owners do not have all those advantages when it comes to protecting their precious data. Few small businesses have the ability or the budget to field a dedicated IT department, and that can leave them especially vulnerable to data loss. That means small business owners need to work extra hard to backup and protect their data, and that begins with the eight timely tips listed above. 

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