An IT manager at any business likely loses sleep over the idea of losing data. The loss of data can create serious credibility problems for any business and cost a lot of money. It can also greatly affect the productivity of workgroups and individual employees.

One of the most vulnerable areas in the business is endpoints, with risks such as mobile devices being lost, stolen, or damaged, malicious actions such as unauthorized data modification, or user error. The problem is multiplied when employees use their own devices because the data is no longer completely under the control of the IT team.

Many companies simply use a USB drive or cloud sharing service to create backups for their data. An effective strategy should include much more, though. Any data backup strategy should start with operating policies that are up-to-date then ensuring the data stays secured on all authorized devices. Once the policies are in place, your backups will be simpler and more certain.

There are a few tactics you should incorporate to help with endpoint security. These include:

1. Make backups easy and automatic for users: though the end-users must follow requirements for backups, they should not have to implement them. It is acceptable for employees to make copies online or on a flash drive with company permission, but employees should be required to connect regularly to the corporate network as well. All company backup solutions should be automatic, requiring no user interaction.
2. Keep data safe with cloud backups: the cloud offers many cost-effective services, both public and private, for backup. There are many huge advantages to using the cloud over other backup programs. For one, the technology used on the cloud minimizes losses that a business could face because of physical security issues, theft, flood, fire, or other events. Many businesses opt to use a local backup and cloud storage simultaneously.
3. Protecting corporate data through mobile device management: every company should incorporate a plan for mobile device management or MDM. Most MDM tools have an integrated backup. Some software programs can isolate corporate data from personal data, which is preferable for those who allow employees to bring their own devices.
4. Make comprehensive backups: the backups you make should be secured just like any other data on your network. All backups should follow your company’s security policies with authorization, authentication, and backup data encryption. It is best to preserve multiple generations of backups to help maintain integrity.

Some companies may argue that it is uncommon for data to be damaged, so having a backup is unnecessary. When it happens, though, the loss of productivity can be huge. By following the above steps suggested by technical support companies Birmingham AL, your company could take the steps needed to assure continuity during disaster recovery while also working towards data loss prevention.