“We back up to OneDrive.” We hear this regularly. And it is almost never what people think it is.
Syncing files to the cloud is not backup. Having a copy on an external hard drive that someone plugs in occasionally is not backup. Emailing important files to yourself is definitely not backup.
Real backup means being able to recover your data, your systems, or your entire business after something goes wrong. The gap between what people think they have and what they actually have is where businesses get hurt.
Why syncing is not backup
OneDrive, Google Drive, and Dropbox are excellent tools. They keep your files accessible across devices. They let teams collaborate. But they are sync services, not backup services.
Here is the difference:
If you delete a file from your computer, sync removes it from the cloud too. If ransomware encrypts your files, sync pushes those encrypted files to the cloud. If someone edits a document and saves something wrong, sync overwrites the good version with the bad one.
Sync keeps your devices and the cloud identical. That is exactly the problem. When something goes wrong on one side, it goes wrong on both.
Some sync services keep deleted files for a limited time, typically 30 to 93 days. That helps with accidental deletion, but it does not help with ransomware that sits quietly for months before activating, or with a departing employee who deletes their files on the way out.
For a full look at the specific risks, see our article on why cloud sync is not backup.
What real backup looks like
Real backup has a few characteristics that set it apart from syncing or copying files around:
It is automatic. If someone has to remember to plug in a drive or click a button, it will not happen consistently. Real backup runs on a schedule without anyone needing to do anything.
It is off-site. If your office floods, catches fire, or gets broken into, your backup needs to be somewhere else. A backup drive sitting next to the server it backs up is only half a solution.
It is versioned. Real backup keeps multiple versions of your files over time. If you need to recover a document from three weeks ago, you can. If ransomware encrypted everything yesterday, you can restore from the day before.
It is monitored. A backup that fails silently is worse than no backup at all because it gives you false confidence. Monitored backup means someone (your IT team) knows immediately when a backup does not complete.
It is tested. The only way to know your backup works is to restore from it. Not theoretically. Actually restore a file, a folder, a whole system. If you have never tested a restore, you do not have a backup. You have a hope.
What to back up
Not everything on your systems is equally important. Understanding what to protect helps you choose the right approach.
Your server (if you have one). This is usually the most critical. It holds your shared files, your applications, and sometimes your email and databases. A full server backup means your server can be rebuilt completely, not just individual files restored.
Microsoft 365 data. Your email, OneDrive files, SharePoint sites, and Teams data. Microsoft makes it very clear in their terms of service that backing up your data is your responsibility, not theirs. They provide the platform. You protect the data on it. For more on this, see our article on Microsoft’s shared responsibility model.
Workstation files. The documents, spreadsheets, and files on individual computers. These are the ones people think are backed up because they are “in OneDrive” but that is syncing, not backup.
Application data and databases. Your accounting software database, your CRM records, your practice management system. These sometimes need special backup approaches because they are constantly changing while in use.
Cloud, local, or hybrid
There are three basic approaches to backup, and each has trade-offs:
Cloud backup sends your data to a secure data centre over your internet connection. It is off-site by definition, so it survives physical disasters at your office. The trade-off is that large restores take time because everything has to download again. It also depends on your internet connection, which in South Africa means you need to factor in fibre speed and reliability.
Local backup copies data to a device on your premises, usually a dedicated backup drive or NAS (network-attached storage). Restores are fast because the data is right there. The trade-off is that it is not off-site, so a fire, flood, or theft takes out your backup with your data.
Hybrid backup does both. Data goes to a local device for fast restores and to the cloud for off-site protection. This gives you the speed of local with the safety of cloud. It is the approach we recommend for most businesses because it covers both scenarios.
How often you back up depends on how much data you can afford to lose. If losing a full day’s work would be a serious problem, you need backups more frequently than once a day. Some businesses need backups every two hours. Others are fine with daily. The right frequency depends on how your business works.
How Kwik Backup works
Our backup service, Kwik Backup, covers servers, workstations, and Microsoft 365. Here is how it works in practice:
- You tell us what data matters most
- We set up automatic backups to a secure off-site location (and local copy if you choose hybrid)
- Backups run on schedule, from once daily up to every two hours depending on your needs
- We monitor every backup to confirm it completed successfully
- We test restores regularly so you know your data is recoverable
We offer three server backup tiers:
- Starter: Daily backup, 28 days retention, off-site storage
- Professional: 4 backups per day, 60 days retention, off-site plus local copy, quarterly restore tests
- Enterprise: 12 backups per day, 90 days retention, off-site plus local copy, monthly restore tests
We also back up individual workstations (file-level or full system images) and Microsoft 365 data (Exchange, OneDrive, SharePoint, and Teams).
Full details are on our Business Continuity page.
Five questions to ask about your current backup
If you already have some form of backup, these questions tell you whether it is enough:
- When did it last run successfully? If you do not know, nobody is monitoring it.
- When did you last test a restore? If the answer is “never” or “I’m not sure”, your backup is unproven.
- What is your retention period? If your backup only keeps the most recent copy, you cannot recover from problems that happened before your last backup.
- Is it off-site? If all copies are in the same building, a physical disaster takes everything.
- Does it cover Microsoft 365? If you assume Microsoft backs up your email and files, check their shared responsibility model. They do not.
If any of those answers concern you, it is worth having a conversation about your backup strategy.
Check your backup for free
Not sure whether your backup is working properly? We will review your current setup and tell you where the gaps are. No cost, no obligation.
Or talk to us directly:
Call: 087 820 5005
WhatsApp: 081 526 1626
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