When is backup not a backup?

It would suck to think you had a parachute and find out after you jumped that you didn't.

That't the experience of many companies who trust to the myth that cloud services have automatic, limitless backup so you don't have to worry any more. Not true most of the time!

Here's a real life story:

Careful Operations Manager emails her SalesForce Account Executive:

"Please confirm if we have daily backup of our SalesForce data. If not, please tell me how much it will cost to get this."

SalesForce Account Executive responds:

"When you say backup, what is it that you mean?"

I would have thought the meaning was crystal clear, but the Ops Manager is polite and responds:

"Sorry, if I wasn’t clear, I require clarification if the data that we are entering to Salesforce (Contact / Meeting notes / client details) is being backed up to a cloud by SalesForce?" 

SalesForce Account Exec enthusiastically answers:

"In short, yes all data is backed up in SalesForce."

Then he goes on to elaborate with a technical description of how the SalesForce servers and data centres are all backed up and mirrored. This is all very well, but mirrored servers and redundant data centres is not what the Ops Manager was asking about. She wants to know if someone makes a mistake and deletes 100 contacts, can she immediately restore them from a backup.

Guess what: no she can't! Yes, SalesForce has a backup, but its not quick, not free and not easy. Here is what the SalesForce documentation says about backup:

“Salesforce maintains a copy of customer data for disaster recovery purposes, but it is important for customers to develop a data backup and recovery strategy as part of their overall data management and security model. The Salesforce Data Recovery service is an expensive and time-consuming process and should only be used as a last resort, when no other copy of the data is available. “

That's the message the Account Exec should have delivered to our Ops Manager.

If you have ANY cloud-based service, take seriously the urgent need to confirm you have a backup that meets YOUR needs and will allow you to return to productivity in the kind of timeframe YOU need.

What does backup that meets YOUR needs really look like?

• You can restore a file that someone accidentally deleted yesterday
• If you want to use your data somewhere else, you can get a complete copy of it in a usable form
• You can restore a project that somehow became corrupted 2 months ago

If you aren't sure you can do any of the above, get an expert to help you review your backup. This advice applies to all the common cloud-based services:

• Office 365
• SharePoint
• SalesForce
• Azure
• AWS
• Your website - wherever it is hosted

NONE of these are specifically or automatically backing up your data, you have to set up backup yourself. Seriously: give me a call if you have any doubt about your protection

Frances Russell is an expert on IT and Risk Management with 20 years experience managing technology, security and risk for businesses. Practical, real world experience working with organisations to improve their IT and reduce risk is backed up by solid academic qualifications and relevant industry certifications.

FooForce can work with you to minimise your IT risk. If you would like a chat about any aspect of your IT, feel free to call/email anytime.

Phone: 1300 366 367 Email: frances.russell@fooforce.com