The new year is full of opportunity — and stress. As you start your journey tackling 2023 business goals and strategies, the last thing you need is a setback that puts you behind for the rest of the year. One disaster that will certainly put a damper on the rest of the year? Data loss.

Data loss can bring your business processes to a screeching halt. Some companies have lost a significant amount of money, while others have not been able to bounce back at all. It’s a scary thought but one that needs to be addressed. 

Luckily, there is a way to address this risk confidently — a dependable backup management plan. 

Here is how you should tackle a backup management plan in 2023.

Building a Backup Management Plan in 2023

How Does Data Loss Happen?

Unfortunately, no company is entirely impervious to data loss. Something as simple as a stolen laptop can lead to loss of data and cause a more significant issue than simply replacing the hardware. Companies store incredibly valuable data in many forms:

• Credit card numbers
• Medical information
• Employee information
• Social security numbers
• Client information

And so much more.

There are several ways that a company can experience data loss:

Malicious activities: Your data is valuable; if a hacker can exploit that, they will. From malware to theft, there are ways malicious actors can try to access your data. Once they have access to your system, they have multiple options to make a large sum of cash. For example, they could try selling your data on the black market for others to exploit or hold it hostage until your company pays a ransom.

Human Error: We value our employees but can’t expect perfection. Where there are humans, there are mistakes — and sometimes, those mistakes can lead to data loss. In fact, 82% of data breaches are caused by human error. Even when not committed with malicious intent, data loss via human error can still cause lasting damage to your business.

Software Malfunction: It’s a numbers game — the more software you have contributing to your data storage, edits or handling, the more chance there is that something can go wrong. Software failure can be as simple as experiencing save failures or deletions when updating multiple files and as dramatic as losing access to all of your data in the blink of an eye. Any software that has access to your data can experience a bug, crash or become vulnerable to a malicious actor. 

Physical Damage: This may seem outdated, but your data is still susceptible to physical damage to hardware. From fires to floods to power surges, you never know when physical damage will strike and how it will impact your hardware. If your data is only available in a single location, damage to that location can mean the permanent loss of all of your data. 

Data Backup Predictions for 2023

Why do you need data backup management in 2023? Predictions of threats and expectations for the new year will highlight the importance of protecting your data. 

More Attacks

Unfortunately, cyberattacks and holding data hostage have proven to be lucrative for hackers, and we can only expect an increase in cyberattack attempts going into 2023. 

Sophisticated Strategies

While phishing scams and attempts to introduce malware into systems used to be reasonably easy to catch, modern software and strategies can fool even the most vigilant of employees. Companies as large as American Airlines can even fall victim. In 2022, 1,708 customers’ and employees’ data was accessed by hackers due to a phishing scam. And in August, a Group-IB report showed that a certain phishing campaign compromised more than 130 companies, including Cloudflare, Doordash, Mailchimp and Twilio in a matter of months. 

Bigger Ransom Amounts

All price tags are rising thanks to inflation and recession — even cyberattack ransoms. As a result, companies should expect to pay a hefty sum of money if they fall victim to data loss via ransomware. For example, average ransomware payments increased 71% in 2022 compared to 2021, and we should expect that trend to continue in 2023. The increased price of data loss doesn’t stop there. The cost of coming back from data loss can be as much as seven times the price of the actual ransom payment amount. 

Slow Innovation on Effective Solutions

With the quickly growing technology to exploit and steal data, technology to combat that has some catching up to do. While many existing practices can be enough to thwart hackers trying to find a quick and easy victim, expert hackers could potentially access at least 93% of local networks. Even when that new security technology becomes widely available, companies take much longer to adopt the new cybersecurity strategies. 

Greater Accountability from the Public

With the number of breaches and events of data loss that happened in 2022 alone, customers, patients, clients and partners are tired of getting constant notifications that their data is vulnerable or in the wrong hands. Instances of data loss and breaches will continue to damage company reputations among their stakeholders. This can lead to a much longer-term issue of winning back the trust and patronage of customers.

What is Included in a 2023 Backup Management Plan

Consistent and dependable data backup management takes multiple efforts to ensure confidence in the safety of your data. 

3-2-1 data backup management strategy 

The 3-2-1 data backup management strategy outlines how many versions of your data you need to feel confident you won’t experience significant data loss.

This strategy includes maintaining and updating three versions of your data — the original version, a backup version on the same system but in a different media and the third copy at a second location. 

These three versions are a great start in ensuring the safety of your data, as long as they are consistently updated and maintained. 

Automation

Don’t want one more manual reminder and task on your IT team’s list? MDL will automate the entire process of data backups to ensure that there is no guesswork about backups and no scope for human error. We ensure that all locations you want to back up are included.

Access

Your alternative versions of your data are only helpful if you can access them. MDL ensures that you have access to your backed-up data in a specified time frame, completely customizable to your company’s needs. 

Security and Transparency

When you work with a managed services team, the security of your data should be ensured in transit and at rest. We also prioritize transparency through detailed reports available to monitor the state of the backups. A complete audit trail will provide you with information about its useage, and our administrators do not have access to your data.

Compliance

Are your data storage and protection following the strict expectations of regulatory organizations? Regulatory compliance has become a critical issue for businesses in maintaining records for specified periods. The implications for not conforming to the law can be severe, including fines, lawsuits and loss of licenses. Therefore, you must consider the importance of detailed backups.

A Well-Rounded Backup Strategy

Though data is a priority, backups are not confined to data alone. You need to back up servers and PCs, manage tape storage off-site and ensure companies can retrieve data quickly to provide you with business continuity. Maintaining the processes that help you access backup data will save you money and reputation if you ever experience damage to the main version of your data. The team that handles data backup should also handle keeping this process streamlined and efficient. Then, when the time comes to destroy data, it will be done in a secure and environmentally friendly manner.

Rely on the Professionals — We Can Help

While in-house IT teams can handle many backup management services, managing these backups can become a fragmented task that gets pushed to the back burner when the IT list of responsibilities becomes overwhelming. Your process may need more attention to be the most updated version of your network data. Can you trust your operations to inconsistent backups?

A long list of security measures and responsibilities can help protect your company from many disasters, but as in life, sometimes problems are unavoidable. When disaster strikes, it can be overwhelming to take it all on internally. MDL can handle your entire disaster recovery program, so you can rest easy knowing your sensitive info is in good hands. 

Many assume that outsourcing their technology needs comes with a hefty price tag. However, with affordable solutions for businesses of all sizes and industries, MDL Technology is there for your IT needs every step of the way. Contact us today to learn more.