Since the premise of cyber resilience is to prepare for the day when—not if—a cyber incident will occur, backup is an essential component in the plans you develop for your small and medium-sized business (SMB) clients. The problem in most company backup plans is that data is more dispersed than ever, particularly in the new “remote work” world. That means that potential loss—not just exposure—resides with every connected device. The right endpoint solution can take care of that.
Businesses Are Backing Up Data, But Not Very Well
The world of data and systems backups, like all things tech, is a mixed bag of successes and failures. The good news is, according to Statista,close to 90 percent of companies backing up at least something.
The bad news is that the vast majority still lose valuable data from cyber incidents (e.g., breaches, etc.), accidentally deleted files, failures in hardware or software or just having out-of-date backups. Chalk up the reason for this sorry state of affairs to the following bad habits:
- SMBs don’t back up often enough. Most do not backup multiple times per day. Fewer still backup daily at all, or even weekly
- SMBs don’t back up broadly enough. While databases are commonly backed up, other data sources—from email and software programs to cloud applications—are not. In fact, some of these data sources are backed up by only a handful of firms.
- SMBs overlook endpoints entirely. Endpoints represent a growing risk for data loss. Thanks to increased business mobility, this has been an ongoing trend. Exposure mushroomed when businesses responding to the pandemic were required to support work-from-home employees with access to the corporate network on laptops, tablets and smartphones. In the emerging hybrid work scenario, data continues to be distributed to endpoint devices that employees use at home, in the office and on the road.
The Right Endpoint Solution Can Save The Day
There has never been a better time for you to be your clients’ IT security hero. That’s because there are more cyber villains to fight than ever. Cybercrime is booming, and it keeps your clients up at night. As you don the cape and help them develop cyber resilience, discuss the importance of protecting endpoints.
Use the following talking points to help you along the way:
- Most organizations don’t back up often enough and are so concerned with databases they miss other sources of valuable data. So, even though you’re backing up, you remain at risk. In fact, that’s the usual outcome during a cyberattack—a company that was backing up data still suffers substantial data exposure or loss.
- Not all data loss stems from cyberattacks. Sometimes employees delete important files or directories. And sometimes hardware and software fail. Backup protects you from those incidents, too.
- Valuable data is now on every device connected to your network. Those need protection and backup—especially in our new, remote-work “normal.”
The right backup solution can protect your clients from all these risks. Check out “What MSPs Should Look for in an Endpoint Backup Solution” for a checklist you can put to work right away.