Don’t Panic About Lost Data — Smart Backups Can Safeguard Your Business

In a world where data is growing exponentially in conjunction with cyber threats, hardware failures, and human error, the possibility of data loss is a constant concern — and for good reason. Losing crucial data can be catastrophic for businesses. The average cost of a data breach in 2022 was $9.44 million, more than double the cost of a breach the previous year, according to IBM.

Data is expanding at a breakneck pace — in fact, by 2025, the volume of data generated and consumed is expected to exceed 180 zettabytes (that’s 180 trillion gigabytes!). When data is lost, businesses experience significant downtime while trying to recover or recreate the lost information. This results in decreased productivity and lost revenue. Research by Gartner estimates that the average cost of IT downtime can be as much $6,600 per minute, or $400,000 per hour.

A customer-controlled data backup and restore plan can be a lifesaver for businesses, so that they can spend less time focused on data recovery and more time focused on opportunities for growth. 

Quickly respond in a crisis

Let’s meet Alex, a skilled software developer at a technology company that provides a range of services to its customers. The company stores comprehensive customer data in its CRM, including essential client information like contact details, purchase history, and support interactions.

In order to enhance existing sales data,  Alex creates a new integration between an internal system and the company’s CRM. The integration aims to automatically sync data between the two systems, ensuring the sales and support teams have real-time access to a more robust set of customer information. Alex meticulously designs and tests the integration to ensure smooth data synchronization. Everything seems to work perfectly during the testing phase.

However, when the integration goes live, an unexpected issue arises. An oversight in the integration’s configuration accidentally triggers a series of deletions in the customer database, wiping out important customer records.

Customer support representatives suddenly lose crucial data while assisting clients, and alert Alex. Realizing the gravity of the situation, Alex immediately stops the integration and investigates the data loss. Despite his best efforts, some data is irretrievably lost.

Fortunately, Alex had recently added backup and restore capabilities, allowing his team to quickly recover the deleted data, mitigating the impact on customers and the company’s reputation. Data resilience measures like backup solutions can safeguard against inadvertent data loss in complex technological environments.

Avoid fines from strict privacy regulations

Alex saved the company’s reputation and cost of downtime — but many industries and geographies are additionally bound by strict data protection and privacy regulations. Failing to meet data compliance requirements can lead to severe legal consequences and fines. In total, fines for the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), a European data and privacy law, have alone reached over $4.4 billion. Utilizing a backup and restore product allows the company to retain and protect personal data records, ensuring adherence to global data handling requirements while avoiding penalties. 

Consider an example of an e-commerce company named “TechTrends.” TechTrends operates in the European Union and deals with a substantial amount of customer data, including personal information such as names, addresses, and payment details. As an EU-based company, TechTrends must comply with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).

One day, TechTrends encounters a security breach caused by a sophisticated cyberattack. Hackers infiltrate the company’s database, gaining unauthorized access to a significant portion of sensitive customer data. The company initiates a security investigation and informs the relevant data protection authorities as required by GDPR regulations.

TechTrends’ IT team realizes that some customer data had been compromised and, in some instances, completely erased by the hackers. However, thanks to their robust backup and restore solution that automatically creates backups of their customer data, they have an ace up their sleeve.

The IT team quickly accesses the backup, and begins the process of restoring the affected customer data to its pre-attack state. Because they are able to restore only the data that was changed or deleted during the attack, they can mitigate the results of the attack without disturbing data that was not adversely affected.

Thanks to the swift response and the reliability of their backup and restore product, TechTrends are able to confidently demonstrate to the data protection authorities that they have taken appropriate measures to mitigate the impact of the breach on their customers.

As a result, TechTrends avoids facing the potentially hefty fines imposed by GDPR for data breaches, which can amount to up to 4% of their annual global revenue or a bit over $22 million, whichever is higher. By demonstrating that it had implemented adequate data protection measures, including a robust backup and restore solution, TechTrends significantly reduces its exposure to regulatory penalties and maintains its reputation as a trusted company that takes data privacy seriously.

Backup and restore protects against threats and human error

Investing in data resilience solutions can save businesses from severe financial and reputational consequences. Beyond that, it allows organizations to focus on growing their business and fostering a relationship with their customers. 

“What organizations are really looking for is peace of mind, that they’ve done everything they need to do to protect themselves against threats, malicious actors, and human error,” explains Marla Hay, vice president of product for security and privacy at Salesforce. “A data resiliency strategy is a critical component of that effort.” 

In a digital landscape fraught with data-related risks, investing in a dependable backup and restore product is a strategic move for businesses. By addressing audience pain points like data loss, downtime, and compliance challenges, this solution empowers organizations to safeguard their critical information and maintain uninterrupted operations. 

In an era where data protection and cybersecurity have emerged as top business and tech priorities, adopting a reliable backup and restore product becomes a crucial step toward building resilience and ensuring continued growth and success.