Data Backup Folsom

How To Find Right Data Backup Partners?

Data backups are so important that the ability to perform data backups automatically can be a major selling point for public cloud platforms. For maximum security, however, all companies, even SMBs, should be taking ownership of backing up their own data. The good news is that a data backup partner in Folsom can help to make backing up your data effectively, a smooth and painless process. Here are some points you need to check before hiring one.

Steps To Get The Right Data Backup Partner

1. Research the law and compliance issues

Hopefully, you will already be in compliance both with the law and any regulators, but hiring a data backup vendor is a good opportunity to have a look at the current state of the legal landscape and see what the future might bring and what that could mean for your business in general and your choice of data backup vendor in particular.

On that point, be aware that companies offering data backup services in Folsom may not necessarily be located in Folsom so it’s strongly recommended to check their actual legal and physical base(s) at an early stage.

You may be fine with hiring a data backup partner in the Folsom area but you might want to think long and hard before signing up with a data backup vendor from further afield, no matter how attractive the offer is.

In simple terms, your local law enforcement and regulators will hold you accountable for the protection of any sensitive data you hold. This includes the personal details of your staff members. They will not care whether or not any issues were caused by your data backup vendor. They will see it as your job to supervise your data backup vendor appropriately.

The closer your data backup vendor is to you, the easier it will be for you to supervise them appropriately (and vice versa). You will also find it easier (and more affordable) to take enforcement action against them if the need arises. If you go with a vendor from further afield, then you will probably have to sign a service contract that says that the applicable law is the one in the data backup vendor’s locality and that any disputes between you must be settled in their local courts. This could put you at a significant disadvantage if you wanted (or needed) to raise legal action.

2. Decide if you want cloud-only backups or also want a physical backup

This is the point where you need to make a clear distinction between data archiving and data backups. Data archiving is essentially the long-term storage of data for specific reasons (usually legal ones). Archived data may never be needed and if it is, it is highly unlikely to be needed urgently. Data backups are taken so that they can be used to restore production systems if necessary. They are usually only kept for a short while (as they become obsolete relatively quickly) and although they may never be needed, if they are needed, they will usually be needed quickly.

There is still a fairly strong case for using physical media for data archiving, although the cloud is making inroads even here. For data backups, however, unless you operate in a remote area with a really unreliable network connection, you’re probably going to find that these days, backing up data to a physical device is much more hassle than it’s worth.

Once you’ve backed up the data, you either need to have the device safely transported to an off-site storage facility or arrange for it to be safely stored on-site. If you need to restore from your off-site copy then, obviously, you need to go and get it first. If you need to restore from your on-site copy, then you need to hope that you can still get access to it.

With the cloud, however, you can have the security of an off-site copy of your data together with the convenience of being able to access it online rather than having to go and get a physical device.

3. Decide if you want to backup to the public cloud, a private cloud or both.

Backing up to a(norther) public cloud can be very cost-effective but the initial set-up might not be as straightforward as you might think it should be. You might also want to consider whether all your data is suitable for storage in a public cloud and, even if it is, what you will do if that changes. Backing up to a private cloud can be more expensive but you have full control over it and can implement whatever security controls you wish.

If you’d like to speak to a reputable and data backup partner in Folsom, please click here now to speak to Aperio.IT.

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