Managing data backups effectively when staff join or leave your business is crucial to maintaining security, continuity, and compliance. When employees change, their access to company systems and data should be carefully controlled to prevent accidental or malicious data loss, unauthorised access, or gaps in backup coverage. This process involves updating who can access backups, ensuring data belonging to former staff is preserved appropriately, and onboarding new employees with the right access and training.
Why this matters for UK SMEs
Failing to manage backups during staff changes can lead to significant risks. For example, if a departing employee's backup access isn't revoked promptly, sensitive data could be exposed or deleted. Conversely, if new staff aren't properly set up, critical data might not be backed up under their accounts, creating blind spots. These issues increase downtime risks, threaten customer trust, and can complicate compliance with UK data protection laws such as the Data Protection Act 2018 and UK GDPR. Additionally, schemes like Cyber Essentials require clear access controls and audit trails, which depend on good backup management.
A common scenario
Consider a typical UK SME with around 50 employees. When a senior sales manager leaves, their company laptop and email account are disabled, but if their backup permissions remain active, they might still access archived client data. Meanwhile, a new marketing assistant joins, but their device isn't yet included in the backup schedule. Without an IT partner overseeing these changes, the company risks data leakage and gaps in backup coverage. A managed IT provider would handle this by promptly updating access rights, ensuring all devices are included in backups, and verifying backup integrity regularly.
Practical checklist for managing backups during staff changes
- Review and update access rights: Ensure backup system access is revoked immediately for departing staff and granted only to authorised new employees.
- Verify backup coverage: Confirm all devices used by new staff are included in backup schedules and monitored.
- Secure backup storage: Check that backups are stored securely with encryption and access logging to meet UK security best practices.
- Audit backup logs: Regularly review who has accessed backups and when, to detect any unusual activity.
- Ask your IT provider: How do you manage backup access during staff turnover? What processes ensure no data is lost or exposed?
- Check SLAs: Look for clear commitments on timely access updates, backup integrity checks, and incident response.
- Implement multi-factor authentication (MFA): For backup system access to reduce risk of unauthorised use.
- Maintain documentation: Keep records of backup policies, access changes, and staff onboarding/offboarding steps for audit readiness.
Next steps
Handling backups properly as staff join or leave is a key part of your overall IT security and business continuity strategy. If you don't already have clear procedures, or if you're unsure how well your current setup manages these changes, it's sensible to discuss this with a trusted managed IT provider or IT advisor. They can help you implement practical controls aligned with UK standards and your business needs, reducing risk and supporting smooth operations.