Backup isn't just a technical matter. It's a management responsibility.

We talk so much about digital transformation, innovation, automation, and artificial intelligence. But there's a fundamental question every manager should ask themselves: what happens to our operations if we lose our critical data?

In a world where companies increasingly rely on digital systems—to communicate with customers, process sales, manage inventory, issue payroll, and ensure legal compliance—losing data isn't just an IT problem. It's a strategic risk.

For years, many organizations treated backup as a technical detail. A task delegated to a systems administrator, a nightly script, an external drive, or storage purchased years ago. The idea was simple: "We have backups." But this phrase—so often reassuring—says nothing about the actual ability to recover.

Having backups isn't enough. What matters is recovery. Quickly. Safely. With integrity.

 

The changing risk landscape

When we think about data loss risks, the traditional imagery was hardware failure, physical disaster, or human error. And these risks remain. But today, there are new factors—more sophisticated, more destructive.

Ransomware attacks are perhaps the clearest example. They not only encrypt production data, but also search for and delete insecure backups. We know of cases in Portugal where companies paid ransoms even though they had backups—because these backups were on the same domain, without encryption or immutable retention, and easily destroyed by the attacker.

In another real-life example, an industrial SME relied on manual backups to an on-premises NAS. After a flood affected the server room, they discovered the last usable copy was almost a month old. This cost them days of production, penalized contracts, and difficult negotiations with clients.

These stories aren't exceptions. They're symptoms of a problem: treating backup as a technical checkup, not a business continuity policy.

Backup as a management decision: Ensuring reliable backups and effective recovery is not the sole responsibility of the IT team. It's a risk management decision.

Company management is (rightly) concerned about physical security, liability insurance, legal compliance, and reputation. But they often underestimate the exposure created by fragile, improvised, or untested backups.

When an incident occurs—and today it's increasingly a "when" rather than an "if"—the difference between maintaining market confidence and suffering serious damage lies in something as simple as being able to respond:

“Yes, we have a plan. Yes, we can recover. We know how long it takes. We know what we lost—or we lost nothing.”

This degree of predictability and security doesn't happen by chance. It's built.

It's not just about technology, it's about process. A good backup isn't just a technical solution. It's a thoughtful process that requires:

• Know what really needs to be protected.

• Ensure adequate retention, aligned with legal requirements such as GDPR, NIS2 or DORA.

• Use encryption to protect sensitive data.

• Have copies off-site, in the cloud, or in immutable storage.

• Automate, to reduce human error.

• And, above all, test. Because an untested backup is an unreliable backup.

Backup as a Service: A Recovery Commitment

At Linkcom, we view Backup as a Service not as a product or a storage quota sold in the cloud. For us, it's a commitment.

We help our clients map critical data, define retention and encryption policies, automate processes, and monitor backup integrity daily. And, just as importantly, we help them design and test recovery plans.

We've seen companies that were able to recover specific files, but not critical databases. Companies that had full backups, but whose restoration took days—time the business can't afford. Companies that paid ransoms or were paralyzed because they underestimated the sophistication of modern attacks.

That's why our service doesn't end with the initial setup. It includes ongoing monitoring, on-site support, and periodic reviews. Because we know that needs change, systems evolve, and so do risks.

A good backup is a sign of maturity

Having a well-thought-out and tested backup strategy isn't just good technical practice. It's a sign of mature management. It's a demonstration of responsibility—towards customers, partners, shareholders, and teams.

Not investing in a solid backup plan is not cost-saving.

It is taking unnecessary risks.

At Linkcom, we work every day to help companies in Portugal transform a technical detail into a real pillar of business continuity.

If you want to know how, we're ready to talk.

Because in the end, the point isn't having backups. It's ensuring you can recover.