Top 3 Reasons to Back Up Your SaaS Data

One of the most business-friendly innovations in recent years has been the rapid growth of cloud applications like Microsoft 365 and Google Workspace. These Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) apps have fundamentally changed the way we do business, enabling companies to take advantage of economies of scale and reduce IT infrastructure costs. While these apps offer many advantages, one thing they can’t do is completely protect your business data from outside threats, like cybercriminals.

So why should you back up your data as a defence against these cyber predators? Here are three reasons to consider.

1. SaaS apps do not backup your data
   Many organisations assume that moving to cloud-based applications means backup is no longer necessary. However, this can be a dangerous assumption. Although Microsoft and Google ensure that they won’t lose your data, they do not make any guarantees about restoring data if you lose it. In other words, your cloud data is as vulnerable to accidental or malicious deletion, ransomware and other types of data loss as on-premises applications. How would your business cope if you permanently lost your data or, at best, waited 6 hours or more to retrieve one file? Relying on apps to provide the level and layers of protection you need puts your business at risk of losing valuable time and data.
2. Cyberattacks are not slowing down
   In January 2020, 480,000 Microsoft accounts were compromised by spraying attacks. This is when an attacker runs a common password (like “Winter2020!”) against lists of thousands of accounts, in the hopes that some of those will have used that common password. If that number sounds big, bear in mind that Microsoft stops 300 million fraudulent sign-in attempts every day. Again, that’s not per year or per month, but 300 million per day! What would the consequences be if your business’ email was not accessible for 30 minutes? How about a full day? A week? Productivity pounds slipping away with every tick of the clock. That is why having additional security software and a robust business continuity and disaster recovery (BCDR) process in place will make all the difference.
3. Data breaches are significantly hurting small businesses
   When it comes to cybercrime, small and medium enterprises (SMEs) are doubly susceptible to being victimised. That’s because, in addition to the potential cost of being hit by hackers and other cybercriminals, they also risk losing the confidence of consumers. The evidence presented in the Small Business Reputation and the Cyber Risk report clearly supports this and shows that 89% of SMEs report potential ramifications of a cyber breach can be “huge and long-lasting”. Specifically:
   • 31% of SMEs report a negative hit to their brand
   • 30% of SMEs report loss of clients
   • 29% of SMEs report a reduction in their ability to win new business If this isn’t enough to convince you that you must invest in cloud backup, then you should consider the potential fines attached to the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). The risks and fines associated with forgoing GDPR compliance far outweigh the upfront costs of implementing a SaaS backup solution.