Backup & Disaster Recovery

Backup is the process of creating copies of your data and storing them securely. Disaster Recovery (DR) is the comprehensive plan for restoring business operations after a major disruption — including not just data restoration, but also systems, networks, and processes. Backups are a critical component of DR, but DR also includes runbooks, priorities, communication plans, and tested procedures. We implement both: automated backups with defined retention, plus documented recovery runbooks and regular test restores to validate the entire process works under pressure.

We recommend quarterly test restores at minimum — more frequently for critical systems. A test restore involves actually recovering data or a full system to a test environment, verifying integrity, and documenting the process. This validates that your backups are working, storage isn't corrupted, and your team knows the steps to execute recovery. For cyber insurance compliance, many policies require documented evidence of regular test restores. We provide quarterly test restore reports showing what was tested, recovery time achieved, and any issues discovered (and remediated).

Microsoft and Google provide data replication and short-term retention (typically 30-90 days), but they are not responsible for long-term backups or protection against accidental deletion, malicious insiders, or ransomware that encrypts cloud data. If a user deletes an entire SharePoint site or an admin misconfigures retention policies, you have limited recovery options. Third-party backup solutions (like Veeam for Office 365) provide independent backups with longer retention, point-in-time recovery, and granular restore capabilities. We implement these for clients who rely heavily on cloud productivity suites and cannot afford data loss beyond vendor retention windows.

Immutable backups use storage features that prevent modification or deletion for a defined retention period — even if attackers compromise admin credentials. Technologies like AWS S3 Object Lock or Azure Immutable Blob Storage enforce "write once, read many" (WORM) policies. If ransomware encrypts your production data and then attempts to delete or encrypt backups, immutable copies remain untouched. This provides a guaranteed recovery point. We implement immutable backups for critical data with appropriate retention periods (typically 30-90 days) and combine this with offline/air-gapped copies for maximum resilience. The trade-off is higher storage costs, but for businesses that cannot afford data loss, it's a worthwhile investment.