Business Cloud Backup: What Actually Needs Backing Up?
If you run a UK business of between 10 and 200 people, you probably don’t have time for a dissertation on backup theory. You do, however, need practical decisions that protect your cashflow, reputation and the people who rely on you — customers, suppliers and a payroll queue that will not be amused.
Why business cloud backup matters (and why it’s not just IT drama)
‘Backup’ isn’t an IT hobby: it’s insurance for the parts of your business that make you money. Think client records, invoices, payroll files, the CRM that tells your sales team who to chase, and any system used to take payments. Lose those and you lose trust, time and often money. There’s a second reason that hits UK managers hard — compliance. HMRC expects most business records to be kept for six years, and GDPR requires you to protect personal data. That’s not academic — it’s practical risk management.
Business Cloud Backup: what actually needs backing up?
Short answer: anything that you would not want to re-create from scratch if it disappeared tomorrow. Here’s a practical checklist prioritised by business impact.
1. Customer and commercial records
Customer contact lists, sales history, contracts, invoices, order histories and support tickets. If you serve other businesses, losing a contract or an invoice can cost more than the IT bill to restore it.
2. Financial systems
Accounting files, payroll, VAT records and bank statements. These are often required for audits and HMRC enquiries; losing them causes real administrative pain and potential penalties.
3. Email and collaboration data
Email is where business conversations happen. Shared drives, calendars and collaborative docs (Office 365, Google Workspace) also contain operational memory. Treat them as critical: providers offer resilience, but they don’t guarantee retrievable history unless you back it up.
4. Databases and business applications
CRMs, booking systems, inventory and bespoke apps — these are usually the systems that stop revenue when they break. Regular, application-aware backups are essential so you can restore to a consistent state.
5. Configuration and identity data
Server images, network and firewall settings, DNS records, SSL certificates and Active Directory. Rebuilding these from scratch is time-consuming and error-prone; having them backed up saves hours (or days) and reduces risk.
6. Endpoint and device data
Laptops, tablets and phones contain unstructured but often crucial data — proposals, local copies of files, notes. Backing up user devices is often overlooked until a stolen laptop becomes a GDPR incident.
7. Backups of SaaS platforms
If you use cloud apps (mail, CRM, accounting, payment platforms), don’t assume the vendor’s redundancy is the same as a backup. Vendors handle uptime, not necessarily recoverable historical copies you control.
How often should you back up it all?
Two simple concepts help here: how much data you can afford to lose (RPO) and how quickly you must be back running (RTO). Put plainly:
- Critical transaction systems — near real-time or hourly backups.
- Daily backups for most business files and email.
- Weekly or monthly archives for long-term retention (compliance copies).
HMRC’s six-year expectation means you’ll likely want some form of long retention for financial records. Balance cost and risk: not every file needs indefinite retention, but some do.
Practicalities: where backups go and how to think about them
Keep copies in more than one place. The old 3-2-1 rule still works: three copies, on two separate media, one off-site. In practical terms nowadays that usually means local quick restores (network storage or appliance) plus encrypted cloud copies in a different location. For UK businesses, consider storing encrypted copies in multiple regions to reduce the risk of local disruption.
Encryption in transit and at rest is non-negotiable — you are responsible for protecting personal data under GDPR. Also, test restores regularly: a backup that can’t be restored is a false comfort. I’ve seen backups that looked great on paper but failed when needed because nobody had tried a restore in months.
Shared responsibility: when your data lives in the cloud
Cloud services often provide durability and redundancy, but they don’t always provide the kind of recoverable snapshots you need for human error, malicious deletions or ransomware. That’s where third-party backup of cloud apps comes in. Ask who is responsible for recovering deleted user data and point-in-time restores — it’s a commercial question, not just a technical one.
Cost, time and prioritisation — what to do first
If you’re starting from scratch, prioritise: protect the systems that would stop revenue or create regulatory exposure. A sensible sequence is:
- Financial systems and payroll
- Customer and sales databases
- Email and collaboration suites
- System configurations and identity services
- Endpoint backups and longer-term archives
Don’t let perfect be the enemy of good. Start with daily backups for the top two layers, automate testing, then expand. Budgeting for backups is often cheaper than the cost of a single incident that takes a week to recover from.
Practical checklist before you sleep easy
- Identify your crown jewels — what stops the business if lost?
- Decide retention based on legal needs (HMRC, contracts) not gut feeling.
- Encrypt backups and control access with strong passwords and multi-factor authentication.
- Test restores quarterly — not just file listings but full recovery of an application.
- Document responsibilities so someone knows who does what when things go wrong.
FAQ
Do cloud providers back up my data automatically?
They usually provide redundancy to keep services running, but that’s not the same as a user-level backup you can restore from. Treat vendor resilience and your backup copies as separate layers; check the provider’s terms and build a recovery plan that you control.
How quickly can I expect to be back online after a restore?
That depends on what’s gone wrong and how you’ve planned. Simple file restores can be minutes; full application recovery might take hours or days if you haven’t practised it. Define acceptable downtime for each system and plan accordingly.
What about GDPR — is backup allowed?
Yes, backups are allowed but you must protect personal data in backups and be able to fulfil data subject rights where reasonable. Encrypt backups, limit access, and include retention rules so you don’t keep personal data longer than necessary.
How much will this cost my business?
Costs vary with data volumes and recovery expectations. Consider the cost of downtime versus the backup bill: for most SMEs, a sensible cloud backup strategy is a fraction of the cost of a week offline or an expensive compliance penalty.
Final thoughts
Business Cloud Backup: What Actually Needs Backing Up? is less about checking every box and more about protecting what matters. Start by protecting your revenue generators, financial records and customer data. Encrypt, test, and keep at least one copy you control off-site. Do that and you’ve bought time, saved money on recovery, preserved credibility and gained a lot more calm on Monday mornings.
If you want help turning this into a pragmatic plan that suits your systems and budget, it’s sensible to map your crown-jewels, set recovery priorities and automate the routine so your team can get on with the business.
