The 7 Backup Myths Conversation

I call it the 7 backup myths conversation and sadly I hear it often. These 7 backup myths and the conversation around them are very typical among business owners. You may have heard them yourself. So let’s walk through a typical conversation.

“I don’t need backup because it is already included in _”

“It’s a pretty common assumption among many business people who believe their productivity or email suites (Office 365, G-Suite, Exchange, etc.) include backup, for all their data, for all time. That’s just not correct. In fact, most productivity and email systems out-of-the-box do backup some of your data, but not all the data, and not for all time. As an example, Office 365 doesn’t have a native backup solution. But if you buy the E3 license or above, you do get an archiving solution. However, it’s an expensive solution and difficult to set up and use. And worse, emails can still be deleted in email archiving unless you put them on litigation hold, so the risk of data loss remains.”

“Backup is too expensive”

“You know what, it actually isn’t, especially if you compare the ‘cost’ of lost data. The sad fact is this backup myth is also a commonly held belief. The reality is, for just a few dollars per seat per month, you can protect your valuable data and ensure that accidental or malicious data deletion doesn’t disrupt your business. And if you think about what could happen to your business if your data disappears, is held hostage, or is corrupted, a few dollars a month per seat seems like a very cheap alternative. According to a recent study, the average cost of a medium-sized data breach is over $7 million. And Forrester estimates the average SMB data breach is 9,350 records, yielding costs between $841,000 – $2.85 million. The cost of secure backup, archiving and recovery is far cheaper than the cost of trying to recover from a breach. When you think about it in that context, the cost of pennies a day to backup and have data restored with the click of a button is not expensive at all.”

“Cloud backup is unsafe”

“The myth that cloud backup is unsafe is perhaps fostered by the lack of visibility into where and how your data is stored in the cloud. For Dropsuite, we use military-grade encryption and servers that are specifically designed for large-scale, secure storage of your data. We store customer data within state-of-the-art cloud servers within Amazon Web Services (AWS). And unlike storing data in a single location or a local server on-site, if there are disruptions at the local level, this does not cause issues with your cloud-based data.”

“Backup tools are too hard to use”

“The myth that backup tools are too hard to use perhaps stems from some (native) backup systems or backup solutions that require administrators to download and install an agent as a precondition to the software working. These types of backup solutions are harder to use, and require extra effort, versus solutions like Dropsuite’s which are far easier. Dropsuite provides an industry-leading suite of tools specifically designed to make administration of backup, archiving and recovery easy, quick and painless. In fact, we like t say that our software is so elegantly designed that even your grandmother could use it. Setting automated backup, restoring with our one-click process, and easily administering users are all Dropsuite features designed specifically to make backup an easy tool to use.”

“Only regulated businesses need data backup and archiving”

“Not true! Most businesses need backup and archiving, whether they know it or not. Although it’s true that regulated businesses like Healthcare, Financial Services and Legal have additional requirements regarding data backup, archiving and access, all firms should be using backup. There are multiple reasons for this, including: Employees can and do accidentally delete data Hackers can hold your data hostage Lawsuits may require you to provide full and accurate data that may go back many years Universal search, which Dropsuite provides, allows users to conduct advanced search queries across email, SharePoint, OneDrive and Teams – a time-saving feature for organizations using Office 365 Having backup and archiving in place is important for all businesses, besides those that are regulated.”

“All backup solutions are the same”

“This is false. In fact, there are a variety of backup solutions available. From the native solutions that require more effort (potentially even an IT resource) to custom solutions like Dropsuite’s — there are a broad range of tools available. For Dropsuite, our Backup and Archiving solution includes the ability to administer users, add or remove seats, backup Gmail, O365, Exchange and IMAP emails, and use one click restore. The truth is backup solutions are not all the same. Conduct a product demonstration and check out our single pane of glass backup and archiving tool for yourself and your employees. Not all backup solutions are the same, we promise!”

“Backup doesn’t need to be a priority”

“Backup is never a priority, right up until the time something goes wrong. Then, it becomes the most important priority of your business. The reality is, without backup your business is at risk. Period. As the recent ransomware attack on the City of Atlanta’s computer system clearly shows, backup is absolutely a priority. The Mayor of Atlanta spoke about how important a robust security and backup solution is: “Just as much as we really focus on our physical infrastructure, we need to focus on the security of our digital infrastructure,” Bottoms said. “I am looking forward to us really being a national model of how cities can shore themselves up and be stronger because of it.”

Conclusion: 7 Backup Myths Conversation

In conclusion, the 7 backup myths are common and dangerous misconceptions that can hurt any business. By focusing on dispelling these myths and making it clear how your business can be protected, you’ll be in a much better position to protect your firm.   Find out more about Dropsuite Back-up solutions for businesses.