Not All Backups Are Created Equal – How to Pick the Right Backup Strategy for Your Business

The reality is, data sits in the heart of every business so Data backup is very important. Whether its customer records or financial documents, losing any important data can be a catastrophe. And this is why a backup plan is very important. However, choosing the right one for you can be quite confusing as there are many backup options available (If your organization has an IT Asset Management Contract AMC).

The good news: IT AMCs are excellent at maintaining your hardware, however they do not always encompass the key component which is data backups. This is where different types of backup strategies make their point.

The Big Picture(literally, complete) Full Backups

Just to put this in context: Think of a full backup like taking a snapshot (in virtualization lingo) – all the changes being made now, will not apply on that picture. It includes everything-files, folders — everything. This is a great way to start from scratch – installing the program fresh on a new server or after some major system update. So full backups are a time consuming process, particularly when dealing with high data volumes.

Incremental backups: capturing the modifications

In fact, you would only have to backup what’s changed from your full back up of that same set started at the beginning. This is what the concept of incremental backups does. In contrast to a full backup, they are much faster and so good for data that actually changed between the backups. Picture it as a file where changes are recorded

This is where differential backups come in.

Differential backups wedge themselves between full and incremental. Differential: They back up all the changes since you last did a full backup, BUT unlike an incremental backup – they also make a note of everything that’s changed. For instance, if you are required to restore data up time alike.

What to Look for in an IT AMC Backup Strategy

So, which one should you choose? It depends on your specific needs. Here are some things to consider:

• How much data do you have? Full backups take longer for larger datasets.
• How often does your data change? Frequent updates make incremental backups a good choice.
• How quickly do you need to recover data? Differential backups offer a balance between speed and completeness.

Dealing with Your IT AMC Provider

Remember, the best solution to it is talking with your IT AMC provider. They will evaluate to make sure your needs are met via the most appropriate backup strategy for a business like yours. Your IT AMC is great to keep your hardware running, but a good set of backups will protect the actual thing you care about – your data. And altogether, they make an impressive defense against loss-making data disasters.

Xedos Technologies offers IT Asset Management Contracts (AMCs) to businesses in Dubai and the UAE. These AMCs go beyond just repairs and replacements, providing proactive maintenance, 24/7 monitoring, and rapid issue resolution to keep your systems running smoothly. This ensures increased uptime, enhanced security, and improved efficiency, allowing your IT staff to focus on strategic initiatives while Xedos takes care of your day-to-day IT needs.