BENEFITS OF IMPLEMENTING EFFECTIVE BACKUP STRATEGIES
- Minimizes impact of data loss incidents.
- Improves business operations and resiliency.
- Highlights a commitment to security for MSP clients.
RECOMMENDATIONS
When creating a backup plan, the following considerations and operational issues should be addressed:
- IDENTIFY FILES AND PROCESSES FOR BACKUPS
- Prioritize files based on business value and operational needs.
- Identify what backup files/data to secure offline. Consider producing multiple backup file copies.
- Identify any regulatory and legal data retention requirements, such as chain of custody, that may affect the backup plan and technical approach.
- Determine if automated or manual processes are best for generating backups, including hard copies.
- DETERMINE FREQUENCY OF BACKUPS
- Establish a desired time frame to restore files and applications to minimize negative impacts to the organization’s mission or business operations–known as recovery time objective.
- Determine the maximum age of the backup files to enable operations to be reestablished
with minimum acceptable interruption of operations– known as the recovery point
objective
- TEST BACKUP RECOVERY PLAN
- Develop response and recovery processes and procedures that utilize the backup files and backup systems. Conduct tabletop exercises to identify opportunities for improvement.
- Determine workplace relocation options: e.g., fire and flood could require temporary or permanent office relocation; not all backup capabilities will be portable.
- Test planning for recovery: Test individual systems and the entire operation (if possible).
- Monitor the backup processes for failures and consistency.