We’d go into more detail about differential snapshots, deduplication algorithms, and zero-trust architecture, but this is Backups 101, not a graduate seminar on Data Whispering. 

So, let’s talk backup basics. Not the boring, jargon-filled kind, the real-world, “I-don’t-want-to-lose-my-stuff” kind. 

What is a Backup, Really? 

At its core, a backup is just a copy of your data stored somewhere safe. That’s it. But the magic is in the how, where, and how often. 

Think of it like this: if your data is a pizza, a backup is the second pizza you keep in the freezer, just in case someone drops the first one on the floor. Or it’s the second save of that Word document you poured your soul into, just in case the first one lied to you despite saying “Saved.” 

The 3-2-1 Rule (AKA the Golden Rule of Backups) 

If you remember nothing else, remember this: 

• 3 copies of your data 
• 2 different storage types (like external drives + cloud) 
• 1 copy stored offsite (not in the same building as your main system) 

This rule is simple, effective, and surprisingly ignored until it’s too late. 

Common Backup Fails (And How to Avoid Them) 

• “I thought it was backing up…” 
   Check your backup logs. Automate alerts. Trust, but verify. 
• “I backed it up once… last year.” 
  Backups should be regular. Daily or weekly, depending on how often your data changes. Automating backups keeps things regular without the repeated stress of sticking to a routine when you’re already busy enough. 
• “My backup is on the same device as my original files.” 
  If your laptop dies, so does your backup. That’s not a backup; it’s a false sense of security. Invest in a good external hard drive or look into using Google Drive, Microsoft OneDrive, or iCloud. 

Cloud vs. Local: Do You Need Both? 

Short answer: Yes. 

• Local backups (like external hard drives or NAS devices) are fast and great for quick restores. 
• Cloud backups are offsite, scalable, and safe from physical disasters (like fires, floods, or rogue office coffee spills). 

They’re like peanut butter and jelly – better together. 

Test Your Backups (Seriously) 

A backup you’ve never tested is just a theory. And theories don’t restore your files when disaster strikes. 

Here’s how to make sure your backups actually work: 

• Schedule Regular Restore Tests 
  Pick a cadence – monthly, quarterly, whatever fits your risk level – and actually restore a file or system. Not just once. Not just the easy stuff. Try restoring something critical and complex. 
• Test Across Platforms 
  If you’re backing up to both cloud and local storage, test both. Make sure your cloud provider isn’t just storing your data – they’re making it retrievable. And that your external drive isn’t just a fancy paperweight. 
• Simulate a Real-World Scenario 
  Pretend your laptop exploded. Can you get your files back? How long does it take? What’s missing? This kind of “fire drill” helps you spot gaps before they become problems. 
• Check File Integrity 
  A backup that restores corrupted files is just a cruel joke. Use tools that verify file integrity during backup and restore processes. 
• Document the Process 
  If only one person knows how to restore your data, you don’t have a backup plan—you have a bottleneck. Write it down, share it, and make it dummy-proof. 
• Automate Alerts for Failed Backups 
  Don’t wait until you need your data to find out your last five backups failed! Set up alerts and logs that tell you when something goes wrong. 

Backups are Part of a Bigger Picture 

Backups are just one piece of your business continuity and disaster recovery (BCDR) plan. If you’re not thinking about how fast you can get back up and running after a disaster, you’re not really protecting your business. 

TL;DR (too long; didn’t read)  

If you remember nothing else, remember this: 

• Backups = peace of mind 
• Follow the 3-2-1 rule 
  • 3 copies, 2 types of storage, 1 offsite backup 
• Automate, verify, and test 
• Use both local and cloud 
• “Oops” is not a recovery plan 

Let’s chat. Or better yet, let’s back it up. 

At CCB, we’ve helped organizations across the nation ensure their data is secure, protected, and ready for anything – from accidental deletions to full-blown disasters. Whether you’re starting from scratch or refining an existing strategy, we’ll help you sleep better at night. Let’s talk! 

The post Backups 101: Because “Oops” Isn’t a Recovery Plan  appeared first on CCB Technology.

Not too long ago, I found myself in front of a food truck, stomach rumbling and ready to spend however much money to fill my gut (we’ve all been there). Rather quickly, my hunger turned to dismay when the vendor glanced apologetically at me and said their payment machine was down. Did I have cash? Nope—not even a single dollar. As I walked away, joining the rest of the crowd that had been longingly waiting, we all watched as the food truck closed its doors and lost out on tons of business.

What struck me most was not just my personal disappointment, and lingering hunger, but the broader implications of that moment. The food truck lost out on tons of potential sales during a prime mealtime due to a simple yet critical technology issue—highlighting an essential business lesson: IT resilience is not just an operational nicety; it’s a business necessity. When technology falters, the ramifications extend beyond immediate inconvenience—they can impact revenue, customer satisfaction, and brand reputation (cue the dramatic music).

In this blog, we’ll explore the often-overlooked costs of downtime and discuss strategies to safeguard your business against major pitfalls. After all, the stakes are higher than ever, and the difference between success and setback might come down to how well you prepare for technology’s unpredictability.

The True Cost of Downtime

Downtime refers to periods of reduced activity or complete inactivity that significantly impacts a business’s operations. It encompasses any event or situation that disrupts the normal workflow, hindering both individuals and machines from performing at their usual capacity. For businesses, downtime can arise from a variety of factors, including equipment malfunctions, software failures, maintenance activities, power outages, or unforeseen incidents like natural disasters.

The average cost of downtime can be astonishing, ranging from $2,300 to $9,000 per minute. This variance is largely influenced by the size of your business and the industry in which you operate. For instance, industries like finance, healthcare, manufacturing, and telecommunications typically encounter much higher costs due to the critical nature of their operations and the significant impact that interruptions can have on their services.

To better understand how downtime may impact your business, there are various resources available, often at no cost, such as this downtime calculator.

Common Causes of IT Downtime

As I mentioned, downtime can be caused by a whole host of factors. While you might not be able to prevent it completely, there are steps you can take to protect yourself from the usual troublemakers.

• Hardware Failures: Servers, storage devices, and network components can fail unexpectedly, leading to downtime. The risk of failure increases when trying to drag out the lifespan of outdated or poorly maintained equipment.

• Software Issues: Bugs, compatibility problems, incorrect configurations and licensing problems can cause crashes and system failures.

• Cybersecurity Threats: Ransomware, phishing attacks, malware, and DDoS attacks can severely disrupt IT systems, or worse, bring business to a screeching halt.

• Human Error: Accidental misconfigurations, deleted files, and improper system changes can result in downtime, which is often caused by human error due to a lack of training or adherence to protocols.

Other Causes:

• Third-party service failures.
• Natural disasters and external events.
• Lack of IT presence or maintenance resulting in failure to apply patches and updates.

Prevent Potential Downtime and Enhance IT Resilience

Building a strong foundation for IT resilience involves a lot of proactive planning and strategic investments. Here are some actionable steps you can take to make sure your business is ready:

• Plan for everything: Establish a thorough disaster and recovery plan. Identify potential risks that could disrupt operations and outline a response for each scenario. Lay out your Recovery Time Objectives (RTO) and let that guide your resource allocation (in what order systems need to be recovered). Keep written procedures for restoring systems and communication plans in the event of a major IT failure (knowing where to go for answers helps reduce panic).

• Backups, backups and more backups: Use a 3-2-1 backup strategy. Keep three copies of your data stored in two different ways, with one copy offsite. Automate your backups to ensure nothing slips through the cracks and regularly test restore processes.

• Up your cybersecurity protocols: Routinely audit your systems to locate vulnerabilities and ensure nothing is getting through the cracks. Invest in effective firewalls and intrusion detection systems, and (I can’t stress this enough) train your end users regularly.

• Pile on the redundancy measures: If one component fails, redundancy is there to ensure your team doesn’t even notice. Distribute workloads across multiple servers to prevent any one server from becoming a bottleneck. Setup failover systems so backup systems automatically take over when primary systems fail (like secondary internet connections or backup power supplies).

• Make your IT infrastructure flexible: This doesn’t mean hiring a yoga instructor for your servers. It means utilizing cloud solutions that allow for easy scaling and virtualization for some critical applications. That way, if hardware does take a nosedive, you can quickly move operations over without tons of downtime.

• Don’t wait for updates: Keeping everything running smoothly relies on regular maintenance and timely updates. Make it a priority to roll out company-wide software updates and remind your team to restart their devices on a regular basis. Automate reboot reminders to save yourself the headache.

IT Resilience and Business Continuity

IT resilience is all about a company’s ability to keep things running smoothly or recover quickly when disruptions occur (recall how this didn’t happen with our food truck friends from earlier). Issues are inevitable, so IT resilience is key to maintaining business continuity and ensuring that essential operations continue without a hitch, even when IT hiccups happen – because they will.

When we talk about investing in IT resilience, we’re really looking at things like solid disaster recovery plans, regular backups, and redundancy measures. These strategies help ensure that if a part of your IT setup goes down, your business can still operate effectively.

Keep Your Business Running

Your business shouldn’t have to face the burden of downtime. While we can’t predict when challenges will arise, we can certainly prepare for them! By enhancing your IT resilience, you can ensure that your operations remain seamless and efficient, no matter what surprises come your way.

Partnering with CCB Technology means you’ll have the support you need to navigate any disruptions confidently. We’ll work together with you to build a robust IT strategy that proactively keeps your business up and running.

Contact us today to discover how our managed IT services can help you stay ahead of the game!

The post The Cost of Downtime: Why You Need to Evaluate Company IT Resilience appeared first on CCB Technology.

Just as aviation protocols are crucial for passenger safety, a solid disaster recovery plan is indispensable in safeguarding a business against the unpredictable. In a world where cyber threats loom large and operational disruptions can mean financial hemorrhage, the importance of being prepared cannot be overstated.

A quick glance at these alarming statistics should send any company scrambling to dust off their existing DR plan or kickstart a new one.

• The average cost of IT downtime is $5,600 per minute
• 40% of businesses fail to reopen after a disaster, 25% fail within one year
• 68% of small-business owners don’t have a written disaster recovery plan

The biggest worry for IT folks is a significant incident or error that could take everything offline or permanently erase important company data. The concern is real, so why is everyone dragging their feet on disaster recovery plans?

As important and stress-relieving as a DR solution would be, it feels like a giant, hairy project that’s easy to shove aside for stuff screaming for attention right now!

Backup and disaster recovery begin with one step: a plan. That’s why we’ve compiled four initial steps to help you build a plan and make disaster recovery less daunting.

Step 1 – Create an “emergency contact” list

Create one sheet (ideally no more than one page) with the contact information for all vendors you might need to contact in case of a disaster. This list should contain contact information for any hardware or software warranties you have, as well as contact information for your internet provider or any other support.

Having all of this information in one place simplifies your first step when a problem arises.

Step 2 – Create a prioritized list of critical systems

Identify what your most critical IT assets are: email, phone lines, SQL server, etc.

Examine what dependencies exist between systems. What is the larger impact of a single point of failure? It is helpful to provide some percentage value to each item in your environment, giving more weight to your essential business tools.

Once you’ve prioritized your systems, define the maximum acceptable amount of downtime for each of those items. Utilize a tool like this cost of downtime calculator to build out a quantifiable assessment of how much downtime your business can handle. It is important to establish expectations with managers so that when a disaster occurs, everyone is on the same page.

Step 3 – Create a list of disaster scenarios

Determine what the most serious threats to your IT environment are. Natural disaster, human error, power outages, system failure, or others. Whatever you might determine for your environment, you should note these findings as well:

1. UPS System Failure (29%)
2. Accidental/ Human Error (24%)
3. Water/ Heat or Computer Room Air Conditioner Failure (15%)
4. Natural disasters (3%)

As you might expect, more common than natural disasters are technical or accidental issues – these “disasters” are largely preventable.

Assess what downtime you’ve experienced in the past, how it was handled, and what you can learn from those experiences. Determine what your environment’s greatest vulnerabilities are: lack of backup power supply, vulnerable or out-of-date software, legacy hardware, infrequent or unreliable backups? 

Step 4 – Select a solution 

The best backup and disaster recovery solution is **drum roll** completely contingent upon your environment and what you’re backing up!

Many factors will determine what backup and DR solution you eventually implement, but these four questions are a good starting point:

• Capacity: what amount of data are you routinely backing up?
• Extensibility: does the solution need to grow as your company grows?
• Speed: how quickly do you need to initiate or retrieve backups?
• Cost: does the solution you need fit into your budget?

There are basically three backup options: tape, disk-to-disk, and cloud. Which option you should choose depends on what’s being backed up and what you need from a backup solution.

Now that you have your initial backup and disaster recovery plan underway, find out how to create a disaster and recovery plan and see if Microsoft Azure is a good fit.

So, just as no pilot would dream of taking off without ensuring all passengers are briefed on safety procedures, no business should navigate the digital skies without a solid disaster recovery plan securely in place.

By taking these initial steps toward establishing a robust DR strategy, you will shield your operations from potential calamity and ensure that your business continues to soar smoothly, no matter what turbulence lies ahead.

We’d be happy to give you professional insight into what solution is best for you or help you implement a backup and disaster recovery plan. Send us a message, and we’ll set up a conversation with one of our sales engineers.

The post How to Start a Backup and Disaster Recovery Plan: 4 Initial Steps appeared first on CCB Technology.

The increasing frequency and intensity of natural disasters serve as stark reminders of our vulnerability, which we can often forget. As we’ve seen from recent events, the impact of these disasters can have devastating consequences, not just for communities but also for businesses. This eye-opening reality underscores the urgent need to revisit and reinforce our disaster recovery (DR) plans, particularly concerning our infrastructure and IT systems.

A robust DR plan isn’t a luxury; it’s a necessity that allows organizations to safeguard their critical data and maintain operational continuity in the face of unexpected disruptions.

What makes us rationalize that it will “never happen here”?

Disasters that affect our business, whether thanks to nature, hackers, or local utilities, have one commonality – they are unexpected. So in the world of IT, how does a company prepare for the unexpected?

This list of questions will help guide your annual DR assessment and planning and provide resources for additional help.

1. Have you analyzed possible threats and discussed plans for each scenario?

Wisconsin will never see a hurricane, but our spring storms can include wind damage, which could mean time without power, or worse. One 12-hour power outage at CCB was caused by a raccoon in a transformer! Making a list of possible scenarios will help you target the kind of solution that will best suit your needs.

2. Do you know what the cost of downtime will mean financially for your company?

The average cost of downtime is often listed around $100,000 per hour. What size company is that average based on, in what industry and with what necessary functions? To get buy-in from management on the right solution, the conversation needs to start by calculating the cost of downtime relative to your company.

Here’s a resource that can give you an estimate of potential financial losses based on your company’s information.

3. Have you prioritized your applications based on what is most critical to recover first?

Here’s a simple breakdown of how to categorize your applications:

• Mission critical: generally revenue or legally required applications – what data needs protection?
• Business critical: critical for your business functionality – what can directly affect your revenue?
• Required: Important to your business functionality, but will not directly influence revenue in the short term. HR and marketing apps may be in this category.
• Other: Lowest priority with little or no impact on the business.

4. Do you know that your plan will hold up if a real world event comes along?

The only way to tell is if you test, retest and test again. According to a Unitrend’s survey, 62% of companies test once a year or less, a schedule that doesn’t guarantee successful recovery. The complete spectrum of your company’s operations should be tested frequently, especially when there are major changes to your environment.

Is finding time to test the issue? Consider a solution with automated DR testing built in. This can provide you with reporting that can build confidence with management, bring attention to areas that need improvement, and help maintain compliance requirements.

5. Do you know how long it will take to get from disaster to recovery?

The average recovery time most companies set is around four hours, but is that realistic? Even if four hours isn’t manageable, there may be ways that you can reduce the time between the “D” and the “R”, since that’s the important factor in cutting your losses.

With new advances in backup and recovery, there are ways you can quicken your recovery time.

Their video shows you five ways to do that:

6. Are all of your applications, including cloud and SaaS, covered by your plan?

The question is straightforward, but one you should consider. When evaluating your coverage, take a comprehensive inventory of all your applications, both on-premises and those hosted in the cloud or as Software-as-a-Service (SaaS). Often, organizations overlook specific applications that may not be explicitly included in their initial assessments or plans. Regularly review and adjust your plan to account for newly introduced applications or changes to your environment.

7. Are you looking into DRaaS?

When selecting a DRaaS provider, be sure you get key information. What assurances do you have that you’ll get your provider’s attention during an event? Learn how they test and validate your data and workflows. Ask how extensively and frequently they test and the level of review and reporting they provide afterward. Finally, be sure you get a one-hour DraaS SLA.

8. What about the day-to-day recovery of lost files?

Can you restore them in 5 minutes or less – from login to restoration? This is the most requested IT function from the user level. Let’s face it – for some end users this can be the most devastating type of disaster! (Cue the eye roll from IT.) Using solutions that can meet this need could help alleviate some regular workday frustrations.

You can’t recover what you don’t backup.
Hopefully, this article has given you the knowledge and resources needed to evaluate your company’s DR plan. If your company doesn’t have an adequate backup solution, a DR plan will not be of much help. Unitrends has a robust backup portfolio, which your account manager can help you assess to find the right solution and set you up with a free demo and trial.

Need more information on backup solutions?
Check out our free resource: Understanding the Components of a Robust Backup Solution

Are you prepared for the upcoming year?

Everyone hopes for a quieter year on the natural disaster front, but the local stories will continue to happen and are the most important to prepare for. Take time to reevaluate your DR plan and backup solution to be sure it is still the best fit for your business.

The post How to Review a DR Plan: 8 Questions You Need to Answer appeared first on CCB Technology.