How often should my firm be backing up its data?

Data is at the center of a law firm’s operations, especially in today’s digital age. It’s critical to have recent backups of information with the risk of natural disasters, data loss or corruption and data breaches. Should an event occur where you need to restore information from a backup, having the most recent data available will make it much easier to get back up and running with minimal downtime.

If possible, your firm should maintain daily backups of critical data, such as financial records, client and case information, and employee records^[1]. Think of how much work your firm completes in a week and what would need to be located and reentered (if at all possible). Handling these daily means less scrambling to find the missing information. If this is not an option, you should look to make weekly backups at a minimum.

Manually conducting these backups can be time-consuming, so it’s best to automate them where possible. Cloud-based systems eliminate this concern, with vendors handling the backups on your behalf. With redundant copies and regularly scheduled backups, your data can quickly be restored if necessary. Many software options also offer automatic backups, which can be scheduled for off-hours.

Additionally, firms should focus not just on the frequency of their backups, but on where those backups are stored. In order to ensure data is protected in the event of a natural disaster or data corruption, follow the 3-2-1 rule^[2]:

• Have at least 3 separate copies of your data
• Use at least two different mediums
• Store at least one version offsite

References

1. How Often Should You Back Up Your Data?
2. What Is 3-2-1 Backup?