If your operations look like most businesses today, your organization likely depends on data for everything from internal team collaboration and communication to financial transactions and customer service.
But what happens if you lose that data due to human error, a hardware failure, or a security incident? Cyberattacks are particularly a threat right now, with cybercrime’s annual average cost expected to exceed $23 trillion by 2027.
Many organizations believe having a data backup is enough to secure their resources, but without a disaster recovery plan, they may still face extended downtime and significant financial loss.
In this article, we’ll break down the key differences between data backup and disaster recovery. You’ll learn why you need both to protect your operations and how to implement a strategy that keeps your business running smoothly, even in worst-case scenarios.
What is Data Backup?
Data backup is the process of copying your data to a secure location so you can restore it in case of loss or corruption. Your organization has various backup methods to choose from, depending on factors like your data volume, security requirements, or recovery time objectives:
- You can back up your data locally to a physical device stored on-premises, such as an external hard drive or NAS device.
- Cloud solutions like Google Drive, OneDrive, or AWS can also be used for secure off-site, accessible storage, or
- You can harness a hybrid backup that combines the best of both worlds.
Avoiding a negative effect on your operations from unexpected events like a system crash, a ransomware attack, or even an employee accidentally deleting a file, data backups can be extraordinarily useful. For example, when an Alberta nonprofit experienced a break-in that led to the theft of their workforce’s devices, having their data backed up allowed them to upload it to new devices and helped their team get back to work quickly with minimal disruptions.
What is Disaster Recovery?
Having backups alone doesn’t mean your business can quickly recover from a disaster. You still need a strategy that ensures your team can access the necessary tools and resources and get back to work quickly.
A disaster recovery (DR) plan gives you a comprehensive roadmap, helping you take proactive action to maintain business continuity by ensuring you experience minimal downtime and keep your critical operations operating as usual.
It should include clear steps about how your organization’s people, processes, and technology can work together to get everything back up and running without significant delay. For example, everyone should know exactly what to do to facilitate system recovery and restore any necessary applications, databases, and operating systems.
Your disaster recovery plan should focus on making it easy to cope with the aftermath of a disaster. No one should be left scrambling for instructions or resources when an incident happens. However, by implementing failover solutions that automatically switch to backup systems in real-time if your primary system fails, you can speed up recovery and reduce the impact on your team and customers.
The Key Differences Between Data Backup and Disaster Recovery
While data backup is a tactic of a good recovery plan, disaster recovery is broader; it strategically looks forward, thoroughly preparing your business to be able to operate through any scenario.
| Data Backup | Disaster Recovery | |
| Purpose | Copying and storing data | Restoring operations after a disaster |
| Goal | To preserve your data and keep it accessible. | To maintain business continuity |
| Scope | Files and databases | Entire IT infrastructure and business processes |
| Frequency | Backups are scheduled regularly based on your desired cadence (daily, weekly, etc.). | Disaster recovery needs to be an ongoing process that evolves alongside your environment. |
| Required Resources | Backup software and storage devices. | Recovery procedures, staff training, communication plans. |
| Complexity | Low to medium (depends on data volume) | High: Involves coordination across multiple departments and systems |
The Power of Combining Backup and Disaster Recovery
Think of your data backups as the spare tire you’d need in the case of a flat tire, while your DR strategy would be a full roadside assistance kit, including tools, a jack, and possibly professional support so you can continue your travels with minimal stress.
Let’s say your organization experiences a ransomware attack that locks up your data, leaving it inaccessible to your employees. You have backups, but restoring them takes days. In the meantime, your business remains offline, leaving your customers frustrated. Without a solid disaster recovery plan, your company could lose revenue and damage its relationships.
To truly safeguard your operations, you need both reliable backups and a disaster recovery strategy so they can work in tandem to minimize the impact of any disruptions.
How To Build an Effective Data Backup and Disaster Recovery Strategy
So, where do you begin if you want to build an effective data backup and disaster recovery strategy? You’ll need to follow a comprehensive approach that addresses all your business requirements. A managed IT service provider can provide the responsive IT support you need to ensure you consider best practices at every step, such as:
- Follow the 3-2-1 Backup Rule: Keep three copies of your data, stored on two different media, with one copy offsite in either cloud or remote storage. This tactic offers extra layers of protection against data loss and reduces your risk if some of your backup measures fail so that your data stays secure no matter what happens. You’ll also want to secure your data backups effectively—these can often be the victim of cyberattacks too!
- Set a Recovery Time Objective (RTO): How fast do you need to recover operations? Determine your objective so that you can allocate resources, plan ahead effectively, and choose solutions that match your business needs.
- Use Automated Backup Solutions: Automated backups help you cut down on human error and keep your data continuously protected without needing to constantly monitor the process. This takes the pressure off your team, too: you can trust that your backups are always current, even if they’re busy with other tasks.
- Test Your Backups and DR Plan Regularly: Test out some “what if” data loss scenarios in advance to see how your strategy holds up when things may actually go wrong. You’ll know if it’ll actually work when you really need it!
- Implement Cloud-Based Disaster Recovery: Cloud disaster recovery solutions can get you back up and running quickly with hardly any downtime. Since your data is stored off-site, it can be accessed and restored almost immediately, so your team doesn’t miss a beat.
Partner with PC Corp to secure your data
Just having data backups isn’t enough to keep your business safe from downtime and lost revenue. Backups make sure you don’t lose important files, but a disaster recovery plan will help your business weather any storm and remain operational so you can keep serving customers and hitting your goals.
PC Corp’s managed IT services team specializes in maintaining robust backup solutions that prioritize your cybersecurity and data protection. Our experts also provide more strategic support with developing disaster recovery plans that cover every angle, so you’re always one step ahead of any potential threat.
Don’t leave your organization vulnerable! Contact us to make the unexpected just another bump in the road instead of a major setback.
