The AT&T Small Business Technology poll found 9 out of 10 small businesses backup their data daily. But, you still hear stories all the time about SMBs that lose their data or don’t comply with given standards. So mistakes still happen.
Don’t let yourself be a victim! Ignore these common data backup myths:
1. Onsite Data Backup Is Enough:
Backing up your data on your own physical premises is a start. In many cases, it keeps you safe.
But, you haven’t accounted for a physical disaster that could destroy your entire building. Fortunately, there are backup solutions available that backup your data onsite and over the cloud.
2. Backing Up Your Data Weekly is Good Enough:
You use the phrase “good enough” because that’s all that solution is. Remember, there’s a difference between data backup that’s “good enough” and “exactly what you need.” Weekly backups work okay for businesses that don’t create much data. But, especially in the healthcare industry, you need to back your data up daily.
What consequences could happen to your business if something goes wrong and you lose a week’s worth of data?
3. Stay Away from Cloud Backup – It’s Not Safe:
This actually depends on the provider of the cloud storage. A good provider encrypts your data while in transit. Plus, data stored in the cloud replicates across multiple servers. At your own location, everything’s stored in a single place that can get destroyed. To ensure safety, you need to thoroughly interview your cloud it storage provider. This goes double for those in the highly regulated healthcare industry.
4. Tape Backups Shouldn’t Be Used Anymore:
Tapes certainly aren’t the most advanced backup technology available. However, tapes are actually a solid backup option because:
• They have high capacity
• Don’t cost much
• Are highly resilient
• Work well if you have massive amounts of information to backup
• They’re additionally secure because they work offline
Going forward, tape backups are expected to continue to double their storage capacity every year until 2022.
5. Because the Cloud’s Available, You Can Totally Outsource Disaster Recovery
The truth is the cloud helps enormously with disaster recovery. However, you still need to plan your own recovery in the event of a disaster.
Remember, HIPPA throws down severe penalties for not complying with its rules. They can hit you with $1.5 million in fines for all the violations you make of an identical provision. So, it’s best to ignore these myths and focus on the reality instead. And remember, you can always outsource help for all data backup needs you have.
