Backup Is Not Enough: Why Business Continuity Matters More Than Ever
- Jordan Santos
- Jul 15
- 2 min read
In today’s cyber threat landscape, simply backing up your data is no longer enough. It’s a good start—but it's not a plan.
From ransomware attacks and natural disasters to hardware failures and power outages, the risks to business operations are growing more frequent and more costly. In this environment, your ability to bounce back quickly is just as important as your ability to back up regularly.
The Problem with Traditional Backups
Most organizations understand the need for backups, but far fewer have a true business continuity strategy. Why does that matter?
Because traditional backup answers only one question:
"Can I get my data back?"
But business continuity answers two more critical ones:
"How fast can I recover?"
"What happens to my business while I wait?"
Without a tested recovery strategy, businesses often face days—or even weeks—of downtime. That delay can be more damaging than the data loss itself.
Downtime Is the Real Cost
According to recent research, the average cost of IT downtime is over $5,600 per minute for businesses. For small to mid-sized businesses, even a few hours of lost productivity, missed sales, or customer frustration can have lasting impact.
Imagine your server crashes or is encrypted in a ransomware attack. You have backups, but they’re stored offsite or in the cloud. That’s great for data protection, but how long will it take to fully restore your systems? How long before your team can log in and work again?
Business Continuity Means Planning for Operations—Not Just Data
This is where business continuity comes in. It's the broader strategy that ensures not just your data, but your operations, can continue—even in a crisis.
A strong business continuity plan includes:
Frequent, tested backups (on-site and cloud)
Failover capabilities that let you keep running if your primary systems fail
Defined recovery time objectives (RTOs) and recovery point objectives (RPOs)
Incident response playbooks so your team knows what to do under pressure
At MapleTronics, we often help clients think beyond backup with our TorQ suite of managed backup services. While some TorQ options provide traditional cloud and on-site backups, our most robust solution, TorQ41, includes server failover—allowing your systems to run from a backup appliance while your primary server is being restored.
This level of continuity means your team can keep working even when disaster strikes.
Key Takeaway: Test, Don’t Assume
One of the biggest misconceptions we see is that having a backup is the same as having a recovery plan. It’s not. Backups can fail. Recovery can take longer than expected. And sometimes, businesses don’t even know what’s missing until it’s too late.
That’s why we recommend regular backup testing, failover drills, and clear documentation of your recovery process. If your current provider isn’t helping you prepare for this level of resilience, it’s time to ask more from your solution.
Final Thoughts
Backing up your data is essential—but it’s just the beginning. If your business depends on uninterrupted access to systems, files, and applications (and whose doesn’t?), then you need to think in terms of business continuity.
Because in a real-world crisis, speed, clarity, and continuity will matter more than anything else.
Want help evaluating your current backup and recovery strategy? Let us know—we’re here to help you be confident, not just compliant.
