The difference between data backup, business continuity, and disaster recovery.

One of the worst things that can happen to any company is data loss. Losing access to important data can lead to anything from downtime to your business shutting down permanently. Fortunately, there are steps you can take to prevent trouble for your organization. These steps include data backup, disaster recovery, and business continuity.

You’ve probably heard of data backup, business continuity, and disaster recovery before. But do you know what these words mean? They’re often confused with one another and used interchangeably, but they’re actually three completely separate concepts. You need all three to keep your business from being put in a vulnerable position.

In this blog, we’ll explain what each term means and how they differ from each other.

Let’s start by talking about data backup. This is the act of copying data from one location and storing that copied data in another. Data backup can be done on a USB drive, external hard drive, an offsite server, or any other storage device. 

The purpose of this practice is to protect your data in the event of something like hardware failure, a natural disaster, or a cyberattack. Since the information isn’t stored locally, if your device experiences a data loss event, you still have access to whatever you saved. Think of data backup as a security blanket for your company.

Disaster recovery is an organization’s process of restoring access and functionality for its IT infrastructure and data after a disaster. This works by replicating data and storing it in an offsite location, so in the event of a disaster, you can rest easy knowing you have duplicate information that’s safe in a separate location. 

This may sound similar to data backup, but the basic difference between backup and restore is that disaster recovery is focused on the recovery aspect of data preservation. With your data saved in another location, you have the ability to restore any information lost from a data loss incident. It’s less about data backup vs disaster recovery and more about using the two practices together.

Business continuity is actually part of a larger disaster recovery plan. The term refers to an organization’s level of readiness to maintain critical functions and resume operations after a disaster. For example, let’s say your office was flooded and any technology sitting on the ground was damaged by the water. Business continuity would be the strategy you created to keep your business going despite an emergency like this.

Although it’s only one aspect of a disaster recovery plan, this is extremely important. Creating a well-rounded plan to keep your operations running can mean the difference between the success or failure of your business. A business continuity strategy can also accelerate your company’s recovery from an emergency.

While there’s a difference between data backup, business continuity, and disaster recovery, all three processes are inextricably linked. You can’t have disaster recovery if you don’t backup your information first. Your business continuity plan allows you to continue working while your disaster recovery procedures restore anything that was lost. When used together, these processes greatly increase your chances of keeping your company up and running with minimal downtime. As a result, you could end up saving hundreds of thousands of dollars in recovery costs.

Developing strategies for backup, continuity, and recovery takes a lot of time and effort that your company may not have. However, it’s vital to have these plans in place to protect your business from unforeseen events. To establish these strategies without the hassle, you can rely on a managed service provider (MSP) like 42, Inc. An MSP can customize your strategies to fit the needs of your business and apply them accordingly.

42, Inc. is an industry-leading Bay Area IT provider that specializes in a variety of services, including disaster recovery, data backup, and business continuity. Unlike our competitors, we take the time to thoroughly understand your business and implement solutions that fit your operations like a glove.

Contact us today to learn more.