There is no single right backup product. There is, however, a right way to decide.
Start with Two Questions
- How much data can we afford to lose? An hour, a day, a week?
- How long can we afford to be without key systems?
The answers determine how often you back up and how quickly you must be able to restore.
Common Approaches
- Local backup to a dedicated device: fast restores, but vulnerable to fire, theft and ransomware if not isolated.
- Cloud backup: offsite by design and easy to scale, with restore speed depending on your internet connection.
- Hybrid: a local copy for speed and a cloud copy for resilience. For most businesses, this is the sensible default.
Don’t Forget Cloud Services
Microsoft 365 and other cloud platforms need their own backup arrangements. Built in retention is not the same as an independent backup.
Protect the Backups
Use immutable or offline copies, separate credentials and alerts for failed jobs.
Test Restores
A quarterly restore test proves the system works.
Contact me for a backup review.