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What Is Cloud Backup, and How Does It Help Small Businesses?

A close-up of a hand holding a cloud-shaped blue sponge with a network of white dots and lines drawn on it.

Cloud backup services can provide enormous benefits for your small business-critical data. You might struggle with computer infrastructure, technical know-how, and security software. But with a bit of help from cloud backup providers, you can get all these and more without a large-scale investment. Don’t ask ‘what is cloud backup,’ ask how cloud backups will enhance your business!

There are many ways to back up your data, and using a managed IT or online backup service company can help ease the backup process and ensure data integrity without data loss. The purpose of backups is to recover data smoothly after the worst occurs, so make sure you are prepared by investing in a good backup service provider like the one that our clients chose.

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What Is Cloud Backup?

The cloud is a simple way of picturing an extensive, interconnected network of computers dedicated to storage space and other remote backup tools. Cloud backup provider equipment is committed to providing large amounts of space for you to utilize as secure storage devices for your backup software. This allows you to restore and backup cloud data storage without high costs.

Simply put, cloud backup providers give you access to the tools and equipment to securely protect large amounts of data. This service is critical for any business that deals with sensitive data like client or customer information. Small businesses can struggle to ensure business continuity without heavily investing in infrastructure – which a cloud backup software provider will give at a lower price.

How to Backup to the Cloud

Installing cloud backup software is often the first step to backing up your data. Hundreds of backup software options are available, such as big names like One Drive, Google Drive, or Dropbox. These are viable for everyday use, but small businesses should use more specific business cloud software. This software should automatically update your backup data regularly for the best results.

Getting your critical business data onto the cloud in a secure manner shouldn’t be rushed. Your first steps towards establishing yourself on the cloud are the most important. This process usually begins with the following steps:

  • Organize Your Data for simpler selection and cleanup of your network.
  • Select the Data for compression and encryption.
  • Transfer Data to the Cloud – Your IT department should use secure transfer methods.
  • Regularly Update Information to ensure that data is usable for disaster recovery.

Most data security professionals consider it best practice to use a 3-2-1 method of storage: three copies of backups across two formats (such as cloud and physical storage) with one copy kept off-site of your business.

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The Benefits of Cloud Backup

Before you choose a cloud backup service provider for your needs, you should weigh the pros and cons of outsourcing your data backup needs to a cloud storage provider. When considering cloud backup vs. physical storage, keep these in mind:

Cost is a significant benefit of cloud backup services. Network infrastructure like server farms, storage devices, and other computer hardware can be expensive. However, while on-site restore and backup cloud data storage have more upfront costs, the monthly cloud backup fees can add up quickly.

The cloud is not set and is constantly growing as cloud service providers add remote servers and storage capabilities to their networks. This means the cloud is scalable in a way that physical backups are not, in addition to working for your remote workforce. In physical backup vs. cloud storage, the cloud easily wins.

iCloud backups are more secure against ransomware attacks that hold a system hostage. The cloud can provide data access so it can’t be locked up in the same way a single network can be held captive, providing a robust security measure in keeping information out of harm’s way.

The Disadvantages of Cloud Backup

Even though a cloud backup storage service can be extremely attractive, there are some drawbacks to the technology:

Data transfer speeds from cloud providers can be highly variable, leading to slower updates to your backup data. Even more problematic, if disaster recovery is necessary, these transfer speeds can slow down the process you use to restore data. Even if you know how to backup to the cloud, transfer speeds can make it prohibitively slow. A cloud backup solution is not a catch-all answer if disaster recovery speeds are a priority.

Prices can escalate quickly when your data begins to outpace your data plan. As you store data, more energy and management techniques are needed to keep it secure. Additionally, increasingly large volumes of storage can quickly become more expensive than is reasonable.

Lastly, security can be problematic whenever your information is sent off-site. Learn as much as possible about your provider’s equipment, plans, security, and data protection processes so that you can see how well their systems will manage your growth.

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Types of Cloud Backup

You should know many different data backup and storage approaches while your IT professionals work. They should continuously monitor backup processes to ensure data isn’t corrupted or lost. Three primary methods of data backup can give different issues and benefits to this process:

Full Data Backups

All data stored in a network is encrypted and transferred in bulk. This is highly secure but time-consuming and requires a large portion of the data storage medium.

Incremental Backups

This backup style only edits your backup data with the most recent edits and alterations. This saves time and storage but poses issues when performing disaster recovery since older data that never changed is at risk of degrading.

Differential Backups

This final method will refresh the backup data with every change made since the last total backup. This revisits more of your backup data and can help restore files more consistently.

Stay Ahead of the Crowd with Integrated Technologies

When dealing with a large data volume, feeling overwhelmed is easy. Each member of your team uses, creates, and deletes large amounts of data every day. But with good cloud backup technology, you can ensure maximum data availability with consistent data recovery.

Don’t settle for just any cloud backup solutions. Trust Integrated Technologies to provide rapid data recovery, secure data encryption, and the best private cloud storage available. Call today and start the process toward a more secure and future-proof business existence.

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