Author: Neftaly Malatjie

Make sure your backup software has full read-back verification. Design a recovery plan, and try restoring a few files to a different computer at a different location so you can test your plan before you actually need it.

Consider what data would be most essential to have at your fingertips in an unexpected scenario. If you lose Internet connectivity, online services will be unavailable. What information or files would be key as you wait to regain Internet connectivity (which will enable you to restore from an offsite backup)? Where will you store those

For on-premises backup solutions, we recommend rotating a set of backups off-site once a week. Ideally, you should store your backups in a secure location, such as a safe deposit box. Another method is to follow the “2x2x2” rule: two sets of backups held by two people at two different locations.

Especially if your area is susceptible to natural disasters, think about going a step further. You need to make sure your local and remote backup solutions won’t be hit by the same disaster that damages your office.

For example, in the wake of Hurricane Ike, one organization we spoke with had displaced staff working remotely in four different cities. One staff person reminded us that if you’re storing your backups in the same city as your office computers, there’s a danger that one catastrophe will destroy both: “Consider your entire city a potential point of failure!” Similarly, when TechSoup relocated our datacenter in 2011, we made sure to select a site that was located in a different earthquake zone from our main offices.

Although it may sound overly cautious, you will be glad to have a system like this in place should disaster strike.

Each organization needs to decide how much work it is willing to risk losing and set its backup schedule accordingly. Database and accounting files are your most critical data assets. They should be backed up before and after any significant use. For most organizations, this means backing up these files daily. Nonprofits that do a lot of data entry should consider backing up their databases after each major data-entry session. Core files like documents (such as your Documents folders) and email files should be backed up at least once a week, or even once a day.

It’s not usually necessary to back up the complete contents of each individual computer’s hard drive — most of that space is taken up by the operating system and program files, which you can easily reload from a CD if necessary.

Of course you should back up the data on all of the desktops, laptops, and servers in your office.

But what about data stored on staff members’ home computers? Or on mobile devices? Is your website backed up? What kind of data is your organization storing in the cloud? How is your email backed up? For more information on identifying what information to back up, see the companion article, Implementing Your Organization’s Backup Strategy.

Also consider data you currently store only in hard copy, as this kind of data is not easily reproducible. For example:

• Government forms, such as 501(c)(3) paperwork
• Financial information
• HR information
• Contracts
• Leases

This type of information should be stored in a waterproof safe or file cabinet as well as backed up electronically (either scanned or computer-generated).