When your business faces a security tender or an audit, questions about backup and disaster recovery are common. These questions aim to understand how well your organisation protects its data and ensures business continuity if something goes wrong, such as a cyberattack, hardware failure, or accidental deletion. Answering clearly and accurately shows you take data protection seriously and helps meet UK compliance expectations.
Why backup matters for UK SMEs
Data loss or downtime can severely disrupt your operations, affecting staff productivity and customer trust. For example, if your systems are locked by ransomware and you have no recent backups, you might lose critical documents or customer records. This can lead to financial loss, reputational damage, and potential breaches of UK GDPR and the Data Protection Act 2018, which require you to protect personal data adequately.
Backing up data regularly and securely also supports compliance with schemes like Cyber Essentials, which many UK public sector contracts require. It helps demonstrate that you have controls in place to recover from incidents quickly, reducing risk and audit concerns.
A typical scenario
Consider a UK SME with around 50 staff, handling customer orders and sensitive personal data. Their IT provider has set up daily backups stored offsite and encrypted. When a ransomware attack hits, the business can restore its systems from the latest backup within hours, avoiding paying a ransom and minimising downtime. During the subsequent audit, the IT provider supplies evidence of backup schedules, testing logs, and encryption standards, satisfying the auditor's questions and supporting the organisation's compliance claims.
What to check and ask about backups
- Backup frequency and retention: How often are backups made? Are multiple versions kept to protect against corrupted files?
- Backup locations: Are backups stored offsite or in the cloud, separate from the main systems?
- Encryption and security: Are backups encrypted both in transit and at rest to prevent unauthorised access?
- Testing and restoration: How often are backups tested by restoring data to ensure they work?
- Access control: Who can access backups? Are strong password policies and multi-factor authentication (MFA) in place?
- Documentation and evidence: Can your IT provider supply logs, policies, and reports that demonstrate backup procedures and compliance?
- Disaster recovery plan: Does the business have a clear, documented plan for restoring operations after data loss or system failure?
Simple internal checks
- Review access permissions to backup storage and ensure only authorised personnel have access.
- Confirm that backups are completed as scheduled and keep records of these checks.
- Ask your IT provider for a recent test restoration report.
- Check that backup devices or cloud services comply with UK data protection standards.
In summary, being prepared with clear, verifiable backup processes helps your business respond to security tenders and audits confidently. It reduces risk, supports compliance, and protects your operations.
If you are unsure about your current backup arrangements or need help preparing for audits, consider consulting a trusted managed IT provider or IT advisor. They can review your backup and disaster recovery setup, help document your processes, and ensure you meet relevant UK security standards without unnecessary complexity.