Back up Management

If you are running a small business and you do not back up data processed through the application you use to process transactions and generate financial statements, then you should. For those who already do, then here are a few tips for ensuring that you have a well controlled and smooth running Back up procedure.

Back up media stored on site should be kept in a fireproof vault to restrict its access and to keep it safe from environmental hazards.

You should create and frequently update backup schedules. These schedules should be in line with the needs of your business.

If financially feasible, ensure that back up processes are automated so that there will be consistency in the back up process.

You should perform both Incremental and full backups.

You should make every attempt to store backups somewhere other than your place of business. The storage location should be safe, protecting the back up media from any hazards that may impact the integrity of the information stored.

Whether you have a software that backs up your data or your core applications backs up data automatically, they should give an indication of whether the back up was complete.

Back up media should be tested regularly to ensure that they are working by doing full restores frequently. Frequency of full restores should be once monthly, especially for a small business. Larger companies tend to perform restores weekly.