Data Backup and Recovery for Project Management: What It Is and How It Works

Elena Humeniuk

PPM Consultant

Organizations of all types and sizes must invest heavily in data backup and recovery strategies. The reason is apparent: data is the lifeblood of any project initiative, and project continuity hinges on having data available around the clock. Unfortunately, hardware or system failures, cyberattacks, or data corruption can disrupt availability. As a result, having a robust backup and recovery strategy is essential for ensuring lost data can be retrieved quickly.

Why Learn More About Data Backup and Recovery?

Did you know that 43% of enterprises experience errors that prevent them from completing their backup and data recovery procedures? This means nearly half of all backups might fail to restore correctly. 39% of data backup and recovery initiatives fail altogether. It gets worse: when it comes to legacy data protection, only 57% of backups succeed.

These statistics mean that merely creating backup copies of your current project data isn’t enough. They must also undergo thorough testing to ensure they stand the test of time. Understanding the entire process is the only way to be genuinely confident in your backup and recovery plan. This article’ll discuss the importance of data backup and recovery tools and methods for successful project management. We’ll also cover achieving reliable data security and protecting your business against potential data loss.

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Data Backup and Recovery Defined

To achieve scalable project data security, you must first answer the question: What is data backup and recovery? These are two critical components of data protection:

• Backup involves creating separate copies of mission-critical data so you can recover and restore it when needed. This process includes copying documents, databases, or essential files to enable the reuse of such data if the original version is lost or compromised.
• Recovery is the act of using those backups to restore and reuse data. For instance, if you accidentally delete a file or your database is corrupted, you can restore it from the most recent backup.

Factors That Cause Data Loss

The amount of project data modern enterprises generate and process can be staggering, so it’s easy for things to go wrong. Below are some common causes of data loss:

1. Human errors
   Data can be lost instantly when you or an employee accidentally delete a project file or run a command that corrupts your database.
2. System failures
   Research shows that 67% of data loss incidents are caused by system failure. When critical components (such as a computer hard drive) fail or crash, they can corrupt essential data. About 140,000 incidents of system failure occur weekly, mainly because of mechanical faults (60%) and employee mishandling (40%).
3. Software glitches
   A project file you’re working on can be overwritten if an application crashes or behaves unpredictably, corrupting the data.
4. Viruses and malware
   If malicious software infects your network, it can overwrite, delete, or block access to critical files, leaving you without essential data.

Because these threats pose serious concerns for project managers, having a dedicated data backup and recovery plan is more important than ever.

Different Types of Backups

To ensure you always have copies of your mission-critical project data, consider the following backup strategies:

1. Full backup
   A full backup is the most straightforward strategy if storage space isn’t an issue. It involves creating a complete copy of all the data you want to preserve.
2. Incremental backups
   Incremental backups are proper when the volume of data is too large for daily full backups. They only copy data that has changed since the last backup, reducing the amount of storage and time required.
3. Continuous backups
   Any time a document changes, a backup is created in real time. This ensures that you always have the most recent copies of your data.
4. Differential/Reverse incremental backups
   Unlike conventional incremental backups, this method maintains a recent full backup while keeping older records by noting file changes over time.

Data Backup Procedures

Your data backup and recovery procedures should include storing copies of your most important information in multiple locations and on various media types. At least one backup should be kept off-premises. Below are three popular backup methods:

On-premises backup

This involves storing copies of your data on physical hardware, such as an external hard drive or dedicated server, at your facility. It’s relatively easy and inexpensive to set up and gives you complete control over your data. However, on-premises backups do not protect business continuity from threats like natural disasters or extensive hardware failures.

Cloud backups

This method transfers and stores data in a private or public cloud data center. While you may need to adhere to specific regulatory and security guidelines (and pay more for large data backups), cloud services typically offer robust data protection and recovery options.

Hybrid data backups

Combining on-premises backups with at least one cloud backup service can enhance security and ensure high data availability. This option becomes even more reliable when you use multiple cloud providers in different geographic locations.

For optimal results, use secure cloud backups that encrypt your data. You should also proactively patch applications, implement system access controls, and regularly monitor your services for signs of intrusion or potential breaches.

How Data Backup and Recovery Benefit Organizations

Just because a company can go a long time without restoring data from a backup doesn’t mean backups aren’t essential. When a server malfunction or an employee accidentally deletes a critical file, you’ll be relieved to have an established backup and recovery solution. Here are a few key benefits:

• Ensure business continuity
• Promote employee peace of mind
• Reduce risks associated with data loss
• Mitigate threats from natural disasters and cyberattacks
• Save costs over the long term
• Improve compliance with data regulations
• Foster efficient data management
• Protect brand reputation
• Drive a positive ROI

Knowing these benefits makes it clear how risky it is not to have a backup strategy. One of the best data backup and recovery solutions that delivers all these advantages is FluentPro Backup.

Safeguard Your Data with FluentPro Backup

Every enterprise deserves a reliable backup and disaster recovery plan. FluentPro Backup is a third-party solution that addresses what data needs backing up, where to store it, and how to recover it. The platform provides automated, continuous data backup restore capabilities for project management systems such as Microsoft New Planner, Project for the Web, Office 365 Planner, Asana, Trello, Monday.com, Smartsheet, Dynamics Project Operations, and Microsoft Dataverse.

FluentPro Backup protects your project data, including tasks, resources, users, and groups, against all threats. It encrypts and automates backups around the clock, storing them in the cloud so your data is always safe and available for recovery. Even your most recent changes are protected by continuous and automated backup processes. You can customize what to back up and schedule when backups should run. You can also choose to restore individual items or your entire backup. FluentPro Backup helps you maintain data integrity and ensure business continuity at every level.

Conclusion

Data backup and recovery come with significant responsibilities for organizations of every size. Data loss can devastate operations and bring projects to a standstill. While human error and system failures can’t always be prevented, you can still protect your business by implementing a robust backup and recovery strategy.

Remember that adequate project security goes beyond simply creating backups. Your plan should be regular, automated, and scalable to meet your business needs. As a project manager, make verifying and testing your backups a top priority. This way, you and your project team can enjoy greater peace of mind, knowing your data is secure and readily recoverable whenever needed.