Understanding Backup Options for Your Business Data
When it comes to protecting your business data, you have two main choices: storing backups locally on your own equipment or using cloud-based backup services. Local backups mean keeping copies of your files on physical devices like external hard drives or servers within your office. Cloud backups involve sending your data over the internet to a secure data centre operated by a third party. Both methods aim to help you recover quickly if something goes wrong, but each has distinct advantages and risks.
Why Backup Strategy Matters for Canadian SMBs
Data loss can happen in many ways—hardware failure, accidental deletion, ransomware attacks, or even natural disasters. For a small or mid-sized business, downtime caused by data loss can mean lost sales, frustrated customers, and damaged reputation. In sectors with privacy regulations or customer trust concerns, like healthcare or professional services, having reliable backups is critical to meet compliance and protect sensitive information.
Choosing the right backup approach affects how quickly you can restore operations and how secure your data remains. Local backups offer fast recovery times since the data is on-site, but they are vulnerable to theft, fire, or hardware failure. Cloud backups provide off-site protection and often include encryption and redundancy, but depend on internet connectivity and the reliability of the cloud provider.
A Typical Scenario: How Backup Choices Impact Recovery
Consider a 50-person Canadian accounting firm that stores client files on local servers. One day, a ransomware attack encrypts their data, including local backups connected to the network. Because all backups were local and accessible, the firm cannot restore files quickly and faces several days of downtime. If they had a cloud backup solution with versioning and offline copies, they could have isolated clean backups and restored operations faster.
A trusted IT partner would assess this risk and recommend a hybrid approach: maintaining local backups for quick restores and cloud backups for disaster recovery. They would also ensure backups are regularly tested, encrypted, and stored with proper access controls.
Checklist: What to Review When Considering Backup Options
- Ask your IT provider: Where are backups stored? Are they encrypted both in transit and at rest? How often are backups performed and tested?
- Compare SLAs: Look for guaranteed recovery time objectives (RTOs) and recovery point objectives (RPOs) that meet your business needs.
- Check access controls: Who can access backup data? Are multi-factor authentication and strict permissions in place?
- Review backup retention policies: How long are backups kept? Are older versions available to recover from accidental changes or ransomware?
- Test restore procedures: Can you or your IT provider perform a test restore without disrupting daily operations?
- Evaluate connectivity: For cloud backups, ensure your internet connection is reliable and has sufficient bandwidth to handle backup windows.
Next Steps for Your Business
There is no one-size-fits-all answer to whether cloud or local backups are better. Many Canadian SMBs benefit from combining both to balance speed and security. The best approach depends on your business size, data sensitivity, compliance requirements, and risk tolerance.
Discuss your backup and disaster recovery needs with a trusted managed IT provider or IT advisor who understands your industry and can tailor a solution that fits your budget and operational realities. Regularly reviewing and updating your backup strategy is essential to keep your business resilient against data loss.