Why Backups Matter (and How to Check Yours)

Backups are one of the simplest and most important parts of your IT setup. Yet many businesses only discover their backups aren’t working when they need them most.
Here’s why backups matter, and how to quickly check that yours are doing their job.

1. Confirm Backups are Running Daily

Your backup software should show:

• Last backup date
• Backup status
• Any errors

If you see warnings or failures, address them immediately.

2. Check That Your Backup Includes Everything Important

Make sure you’re backing up:

• Documents
• Email
• Databases
• Shared drives
• Cloud data (Microsoft 365, Google Workspace)

Cloud storage is not the same as backup.

3. Test a Restore

A backup is only useful if you can restore it.
Choose a file → restore it → confirm it opens correctly

4. Keep Multiple Copies

Follow the 3‑2‑1 rule:

• 3 copies of your data
• 2 different storage types
• 1 offsite or cloud backup