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Cloud Backup vs Local Backup Explained for UK Businesses
Table of Contents
Executive Summary
- All UK Small Medium Enterprises should have a Backup Plan.
- Backups are essential protection for your business to ensure you do not lose data through accidental deletion or malicious attacks, such as Ransomware.
- A Cloud Backup stores your data in a secure location away from your premises, while Local Backup stores data on physical devices in your premises.
- Cloud Backup provides high-level redundancy and disaster recovery, while Local Backup gives you the ability to quickly recover your data.
- The primary risk for SMEs is using only one method of backup.
- Cyber criminals are increasingly targeting connected Local Backups to encrypt your files – infection through Ransomware.
- The UK General Data Protection Regulation specifies “Appropriate Technical and Organisational Measures” must be in place, and back-ups are a critical aspect of this.
- Using a Hybrid Backup solution (Cloud + Local) can provide the most effective and safest means of protecting your data.
- Having a structured 30-day Resilience Plan will increase your Resilience substantially without incurring any significant costs.
Who this guide is for
- Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises in the UK (1-50 Employees).
- Directors, Owners & Office Manager.
- SME’s without dedicated internal IT Security Teams.
- SME’s reviewing their Cyber Insurance or fulfilling their UK GDPR requirements for Compliance.
What You’ll Achieve
- You will have a more complete understanding of Cloud and Local Back-up in plain language.
- You will be able to Compare Costs, Times, Risks and Compliance between Cloud, Local & Hybrid Back-up methods
- You will be able to identify the key mistakes that most SMEs make.
- You will determine whether Cloud, Local or Hybrid Back-up is best for your business.
- You will be able to implement the minimum necessary Backup Standards into your practice.
- You will have a thorough knowledge of how your Back-up will help your business achieve compliance with the UK GDPR.
Why Backup Matters for UK SMEs
Backups help protect businesses from:
- Ransomware attacks
- Accidental deletion of files
- Hardware failure
- A fire, flood or theft
- Mistakes made by humans
If a business does not have reliable backups in place, they may take days or weeks to recover from an incident, and in some cases, they may not fully recover at all.
The UK General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) requires businesses to maintain the availability and resilience of all systems that process personal data. Backups directly assist with these requirements.
What Is Cloud Backup?
With cloud backup, your files, databases, or entire systems are continuously backed up to remote data centres that a provider (Microsoft 365, Google Workspace, Backblaze, IDrive, Acronis or Dropbox Business) manages and maintains securely.