7 Critical Qualities to Demand from a Remote Backup Service

Businesses today take a big risk with remote backup services when they lack knowledge of what to look for. Some organizations go through a horrible experience when their data wasn’t actually backed up properly, leaving their business operations high and dry when they needed it most.

With growing threats, your business data is getting more vulnerable to internal and external dangers, while backup methods of the past – tape, disk, and NAS device backups are no longer effective.

With backup services being so common, how can this happen? There are a plethora of companies offering backup. But as in any business, not all service providers are created equal. Many see it as an easy way to make a quick buck. When looking for a backup vendor, you definitely want to make sure you select a solid, reputable provider you can rely on. You do not want to be burned by hidden fees or unexpected price increases. Worse yet, you may face a backup failure and put your business at risk.

Here are the 6 critical qualities you must absolutely expect from a remote backup service provider

 

1 Top-level security, data transfer, and storage.

This is pretty obvious; you want to make sure the organization taking care of your data is actually secure. You trust them with your client data, personal and financial information, and sensitive details about your business. You should never trust your data to anyone that doesn’t have the following security measures in place:

  • Compliance. Ask your IT service company if they meet and enforce regulatory compliance. HIPAA, Sarbanes-Oxley, Gram-Leach-Bliley, or SEC NASD compliance are government regulations that dictate how organizations with highly sensitive data handle, store, and transfer their data. If you are a healthcare provider, legal or financial institution, or an associate entity, you are required by law to follow these strict regulations. You also must work only with vendors who meet regulatory compliance requirements.
    • Even if your SMB does not have to be compliant, you still want to select a service provider who is. Take it as positive sign that they stand by high-standard security measures.
  • Physical Location. Make sure the place where your data is stored is properly secured. Ask your service provider if their facilities are physically secured. That may mean implementation of an authorized-only access granted only through extra security measures such as by using ID systems, such as card keys, password-lock, or biometric methods.
  • Encryption. A proper data transfer, including backup data, must be encrypted with Secure Socket Layer (SSL). This measure helps prevent a malicious user from accessing, misusing, or destroying the data while it’s being electronically transferred.

2 Geographically diverse data centers.

Experts in data security know the best way to prevent loss of data is to build redundancy into your operations. Your remote backup service should store multiple copies of your data, in multiple locations. It dramatic events unfold, such as human error, sabotage, or a natural disaster, and copy of data gets destroyed even at a backup location, your service would have other backups of in a different facility where the incident did not take place.

3 Ability to receive hard copies of your data on a storage device.

If your entire network gets compromised or destroyed, you should not depend only on Internet download to recovering the data, as it may be too slow or otherwise unreliable. You should only work with a remote backup provider that will arrange for physical copies of your data made quickly available to you some physical storage option.

4 Data to be restored to a different system than the one it was backed up from.

Did you know that  some backups can only be restored to the same system they originated from. If the original device was no longer available due to theft or damaged and destroyed in a disaster that backup data will be unusable, and you will experience data loss.

5 Regular backup status reports.

All backup services reports should be made available to you or an authorized person in your organization. They may be in form of  daily confirmation messages to report successful backup or alert of a failure or potential problems. Also, they may be in form of reports you can generate on demand via backup provider’s dashboard you may be given access to.

6 Highly trained tech support.

There are many backup apps available online for “do-it-yourself” kind of operation. It grants you some cost savings, but increases your risks if you are not an performing it exactly as specified. If backups are not set up and ran PROPERLY the money you may be saving on the cost of service will be nothing compared to potential damage if you backup fails or is not available to you when you need it. If you opt for a DIY solution, your backup service app provider should guide you in detail through every step of the process and double-check check your settings to make sure you did the setup correctly.

7 Most overlooked item: Regular test restores

 A quality IT and Backup services company must do regular test restores to check your data backup and make sure that the recovery process is flawless.

That is exactly what most SMBs do not do – and they suffer significant financial and business losses when their backup process fails.

You do not want to find out the hard way if your data has been compromised or lost when backup is needed!

An average business should undergo a quarterly test backup; if your SMB process involves dealing with very sensitive data, test restores should be done at least once a month.

There is a variety of factors that may cause your backup to get corrupted. By testing it regularly, you’ll have confidence knowing you have the most recent, accurate backup copy of your data. If disaster takes place, your backup will be available to quickly get your business up and running again.

We can help

powersolution provides small and medium-sized businesses with Intelligent Business Continuity services, delivering Data Backup and Disaster Recovery solutions that give you the accessibility, security, and affordability you need to ensure your network and data is protected and your organizations are ready to face anything – from small accidents to a natural disaster.

Inteligent Business Continuity, Backup and Disaster Recovery

Let’s start with our Computer Network Assessment service to help your organization get a clear, realistic understanding of where your computer network is today, and create a valuable Business Continuity Plan to get it to the next level of security and efficiency.

Do you need professional Data Backup and Disaster Recovery Services?

Every step of the way powersolution will aid your business to make sure your company and your client data are secure, and your business continuity is protected. Call us at (201) 4931414 or Request a Consultation today.

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