Five Tips to Share with your Employees About Data Backup

All businesses today, big and small, handle an increasing amount of data. Unfortunately, data loss is pretty common and can have devastating effects on your company’s success and reputation.

Imagine what would happen if all your employee, customer, and vendor information was wiped out or misplaced – without warning. It would be extremely difficult to keep your business running for any period of time without that information, not to mention that data loss can shatter your customers’ trust.

However, data loss can be avoided when you establish a data backup plan and make sure all of your employees are on the same page. From identifying any possible weaknesses in your data security systems to establishing procedures for employees who use personal devices for work, your entire staff needs to be trained in preventing data loss.

Here are five tips you can share with your team to help them better their data backup processes.

Tip #1: Organization and Consistency is Key

Your team may have a handful of Cloud backup systems they are using to store and save files. It is important to set a standard for the organization and naming across all systems. Making sure your team is on the same page when it comes to the organization will help when searching for files created by different team members. This will reduce the chances of someone misplacing or deleting a file by accident. It will also save time if data needs to be restored from a backup.

Tip #2: Determine Which Files Need to Take Priority

Once you have your files organized, determine which files need to be prioritized in order of importance. While all files need to be backed up, less important files or ones that have not been modified recently may not need to be backed up as frequently. Ask yourself, if you lost a particular file permanently, would it pose a risk to your business. Make sure your entire team understands which files take priority so they can identify and back them up easily.

Tip #3: Follow the 3-2-1 Backup Rule

The idea behind the 3-2-1 backup rule is that you should have at least one copy of your data that survives any issue, no matter what happens. Therefore, the rule states that you maintain 3 copies of your data. The first copy is the live data on your computer system or software. The second two copies are located in different formats, so your chances of loss are reduced. For example, your second backup may be stored in the cloud, while your third is located on a hard drive that you keep stored outside of the office. Keeping at least one backup away from your physical office reduces your risk when it comes to disasters like floods or theft.

Tip #4: Update Security Systems Regularly

Keeping your security system updated goes a long way when it comes to protecting your data from cyber threats. It’s important to make sure your employees are familiar with the security systems you have in place and how they can access them. Employees should get in the habit of checking to make sure their systems are up to date regularly. Depending on what security software you’re using, it can be a fairly easy process of going into the settings and checking for any updates or new versions that may be available. Also, be aware of your employee’s personal devices and make sure those are also properly equipped to defend against possible threats.

For more information on how to make sure your security systems are working properly check out our previous blog on the topic.

Tip #5: Automate Your Backup Procedures

Some of the common reasons that data doesn’t get backed up regularly comes down to people forgetting or thinking it takes too much time at the end of the day. A more efficient way to ensure your data is secure is to encourage your team to enable automatic backups. This can be done by changing some settings in your cloud storage software. With most software, you can set a schedule and specify the exact time you would like the backup to occur. This not only saves your employees time, but will also give you greater peace of mind knowing that regular backups will be created for all your important files.

A convenient data backup solution ensures that your company and team are protected no matter what happens. Grand Technology Solutions understands the importance of securing your data from all threats. Our GTS Backup and GTS Office 365 Backup services are perfect for every business. To learn more about how we can help get you started with a data backup plan that works for you, give us a call at (904) 606-6011 or email us at info@helpgts.com today.