Deciding where to keep your business backups—whether onsite, offsite, or a combination of both—is a crucial part of protecting your data and ensuring your operations can recover quickly after an incident. Backups are copies of your important files and systems that you can restore if something goes wrong, like a cyberattack, hardware failure, or accidental deletion. Choosing the right backup location affects how quickly you can get back to business and how well you meet legal and regulatory requirements.
Why backup location matters for UK SMEs
For small and medium-sized businesses in the UK, downtime or data loss can be costly. Losing customer data or financial records not only disrupts productivity but can damage trust and expose you to compliance risks under UK GDPR and the Data Protection Act 2018. Cyber Essentials and ISO 27001 guidance recommend having reliable, tested backups as part of your cybersecurity and business continuity plans.
Onsite backups are stored within your premises, often on external hard drives or local servers. They allow fast recovery since data is immediately accessible. However, onsite copies are vulnerable to the same risks as your original data—such as fire, flood, theft, or ransomware that encrypts all connected devices.
Offsite backups are kept at a different physical location, often in secure data centres or cloud storage. This separation protects your data if your premises are compromised. However, restoring from offsite backups can take longer due to data transfer times, especially with large volumes.
A typical scenario: balancing speed and safety
Consider a UK business with around 50 employees using a mix of cloud services and local servers. Their IT provider sets up an onsite backup for daily quick restores and an offsite backup updated every night. When a ransomware attack encrypts their files, the onsite backup is also affected, but the offsite copy remains safe. They can restore critical data from offsite backups while working on removing the infection, minimising downtime and avoiding paying a ransom.
Practical checklist: what to do now
- Ask your IT provider: Do you maintain both onsite and offsite backups? How often are backups tested for reliability?
- Check backup locations: Where are offsite backups stored? Are they in UK-based data centres with strong security controls?
- Review backup frequency and retention: How often are backups taken, and how long are they kept? Does this meet your business needs and compliance requirements?
- Confirm access controls: Who can access backups? Is multi-factor authentication (MFA) enabled for backup systems?
- Test restoration procedures: When was the last time you or your provider performed a full restore test? Can you recover data within your required timeframe?
- Document your backup policy: Ensure your backup strategy is written down and included in your business continuity plan.
Choosing both onsite and offsite backups provides a balanced approach—fast recovery from onsite copies and protection against physical disasters or cyberattacks with offsite copies. Speak with a trusted managed IT provider or IT advisor who understands UK SME needs to review your current backup arrangements and help tailor a solution that fits your business size, budget, and compliance obligations.