84% of businesses use cloud backup and the number goes up to 93% for small and mid-sized businesses. No surprise, given the reliability, affordability, and accessibility of the cloud. Backing up your data to a cloud-based server is a more secure, reliable, and cost-effective way to protect data than traditional backup methods. However, to ensure that your cloud backup strategy provides the best possible protection, you must follow certain best practices. In this blog post, we will discuss the five best practices organizations should follow to optimize their cloud data backup protection. While there are native options for Microsoft 365 backup, they fall short in comprehensiveness, ease of use, and recoverability from any point in time – all must-haves for a good backup and recovery solution.
5 Best Practices for Cloud to Cloud Data Backup
#1 Ensure Redundancy with the 3-2-1 Rule
To ensure backup data survivability, data redundancy is essential and can be achieved by following the 3-2-1 backup rule, the gold standard for backups. This rule recommends having three copies of the data, with two stored in different formats and one copy stored offsite. By implementing this rule, you have multiple copies of their data saved in different locations, improving security and reducing the risk of data loss due to corruption, breach, or cyberattack.
When applied to cloud backup, the 3-2-1 rule can be viewed as:
Copy #1 on Cloud #1: Production data on your SaaS platform:
Copy #2 on Cloud #2: Backup data on your cloud backup provider’s cloud storage
Copy #3 on Cloud #3: Long-term backup copy on another cloud storage
Check that your cloud backup solution has built-in redundancy in their cloud storage to provide you with a long-term immutable backup copy in keeping with the 3-2-1 backup rule.
#2 Leave No One Out
Comprehensiveness is essential for an optimized backup. This means that all your SaaS data should be included in the cloud backup. For instance, check that both data and metadata are backed up. Salesforce’s native options for “backup” do not include metadata. Data needs metadata to provide useful information. Without metadata recovery, the recovery of the cloud data may not include settings and customizations, causing confusion and frustration.
Also, ensure that other “low-profile” ecosystem apps that hold essential data, such as Public Folders, Teams, shared Drives, archived folders, Notes, etc., are not excluded. Teams, in particular, holds business-critical information and is not always included in Microsoft 365 cloud backup solutions.
#3 Champion Adoption of Cloud Backup and Cybersecurity Best Practices
A secure and robust cloud backup solution can help you restore your data in the event of a data loss incident. But that’s only if your admins and users are well-trained in using it. Ensure that your admins are acclimatized the cloud backup tool’s backup and recovery processes and fully understand its features, tips and tricks. For example, cloud backup solutions often provide multiple recovery options such as granular, search and filter, point-in-time snapshots, hierarchical, cross-user, and cross-site. Knowing which option would be the best to use for a particular type of data loss would quicken recovery and business continuity. If the cloud backup tool allows for self-service recovery, train your employees too for quick, hassle-free recovery of lost data.
Finally, continue to evangelize cybersecurity best practices, safe email hygiene and a checklist for secure remote working. Circulate your Business Continuity and Disaster Recovery (BCDR) plan and/or your Ransomware Incident Response Plan to ensure that everyone understands their roles if an incident does occur.
#4 Check on Security and Audit-ready Credentials
Your data is only as secure as its backup. Here are a few must-have security credential checks of your cloud backup
Firstly, check that your cloud backup is stringently encrypted both at rest and in flight.
Make sure your backup system is compatible with Single Authentication Markup Language (SAML) through Okta, Open Authorization (OAuth), Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) and Two-Factor Authentication (2FA). This will ensure that only authorized individuals can access data and applications at any given moment.
Ensure the backup solution has robust in-app security practices such as intrusion detection, secure backup storage servers, and compliance certifications that comply with PCI standards.
To improve security, limit access to the backup service by implementing the “least privilege” principle. Only allow backup or restore requests from IP addresses authorized by the company. This can be achieved through the use of IP “allow listing” with IP address restrictions,especially in workplaces with distributed or hybrid employees.
Don’t forget to check the cloud backup service’s certifications such as ISO certification, Cloud Security Alliance membership, HIPAA and GDPR compliance, BAA provision, etc.
#5 Test Extensively: Both your Backup Strategy and your Cloud to Cloud Backup Solution
You should regularly test your backup and recovery procedures and cloud backup solution to confirm that they function correctly and that you can recover your data in case of an attack. There are two kinds of tests: Full system restore, which restores the entire system, including the operating system, applications, and data from scratch, and partial file restore, which only recovers a small portion of files or data. It is recommended that you perform tests on your backup and recovery process at least once a month or more frequently if you make frequent changes to your system. By thoroughly testing your backup and recovery process, you can ensure smooth data recovery, reduce downtime, and meet your Recovery Time Objective. This will help you maintain uninterrupted business operations and recover quickly from disasters. Check out some useful tips on how to conduct Backup and Recovery Testing.
In Conclusion: How to Choose the Best Cloud to Cloud Backup Solution?
Cloud backup is an essential part of any organization’s data protection strategy. By implementing these best practices, you can ensure the safety and recovery of your data. Choosing the right cloud provider, defining clear backup objectives, implementing multilayered security, testing your backup and recovery, and considering scalability are essential for cloud backup success. Here is a laundry list of cloud data backup best practices and features to check for.
CloudAlly pioneered cloud backup more than a decade ago. Our SaaS data protection platform offers stringently secure, comprehensive multi-SaaS backup and recovery with one intuitive tool. Get cloud backup for all your SaaS data – Microsoft 365, Google Workspace, Salesforce, Dropbox, and Box including , Groups), Teams, OneDrive, SharePoint, Public folders, shared Drives, and Archives.
Book a quick demo now or Schedule a free 14-day trial and never face cloud data loss again!
