While it’s easy to be cynical about made-up holidays like “Bunsen Burner Day”, “International Dog Biscuit Appreciation Day”, or “Lost Sock Memorial Day”, everyone is passionate about something – so why judge? For us at Own (formerly OwnBackup), it’s protecting SaaS data. That’s why in the world of made-up holidays, special events, and observances, World Backup Day tops our list. Originated by a Reddit group in 2011, World Backup Day is a timely reminder for businesses, organizations, and individuals to protect their data by creating backup copies.
However, despite the publicity, the message hasn’t gotten through to everyone – particularly when it comes to data stored in the cloud. In an ESG survey published last year, 53% of the respondents indicated they’ve experienced lost or corrupted SaaS data in the past year. And yet, 59% of those respondents whose organizations suffered data loss said they “don’t do anything to protect their SaaS-resident application data”.
If you (or your company) happen to fall in that group, here are a few reasons why protecting Salesforce data is so critical.
Growing Data is More Fragile and Complex
Growth is a good thing, whether in life or business. So, if your use of Salesforce is growing, that’s usually a good sign for the organization. But there are a few challenges that come alongside a growing Salesforce org.
One is the complexity of the data. As you build on the platform, you’ll inevitably generate more fields, objects, automations, triggers, flows, scripts, etc. Unfortunately, increased complexity means an increased likelihood of mistakes that lead to data loss or corruption. According to Verizon’s Data Breach Incident Report, 75% of data breaches involve human error. And since Salesforce is a relational database, any errors can have cascading effects.
Without Backups, You May Be Out of Compliance
You might be familiar with the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), which requires that all Protected Health Information (PHI) be backed up regularly, encrypted, tested, and stored offsite separately from the original data. Other well-known regulations like GDPR don’t specifically call out backups, but outline requirements for handling customers’ personal data.
Recently though, new regulations have come into effect that specifically require backups. In the EU, DORA states “Financial entities shall set up backup systems that can be activated in accordance with the backup policies and procedures, as well as restoration and recovery procedures and methods”. In the US the NYDFS says that companies must “Maintain backups necessary to restore material operations”.
It’s easy to get lost in the acronym soup that is data regulations, but why should you care? There’s a good reason: money. Saviynt’s The True Cost of Non-Compliance Report found that the typical cost of a non-compliance event is $5.9M. These costs can come in the form of fines, penalties, and other fees, as well as business disruption and reputation damage.
Data Downtime Impacts Business Outcomes
With your dependence on Salesforce growing, the urgency to protect yourself from an inability to use that data should also grow – whether that stems from service disruption, a data loss, or corruption caused by faulty integrations, incorrect code, or just plain human error.
If your organization suffers a data loss, it doesn’t just affect the IT team. It could impact the entire company with increased labor costs, damaged reputation, revenue impact, compliance fines, and a loss in productivity and trust.
According to IBM’s Cost of a Data Breach Report, the average cost of a data breach was $4.45M. Companies still dealing with the effects of an economic downturn can’t necessarily afford surprise costs like this.
Your Salesforce Backup Solution
At Own, our solutions extend beyond backup and recovery to address the full scope of Salesforce data challenges, which include data archiving, data security, and data seeding.
But since today is World Backup Day, here’s a handy guide that shares everything you need to know to ensure you have a great Salesforce backup and recovery solution in place. Our free eBook contains the top factors to consider when evaluating Salesforce backup solutions, including pricing model, customer support, recovery capabilities, experience, and more.
Summary
World Backup Day is a great reminder for all of us to back up our Salesforce data. But the truth is, a backup and recovery solution is just the start.
By reducing over-permissioning and identifying security vulnerabilities in your org, you can limit the potential for data loss in the first place. And when it comes to compliance, classifying sensitive and regulated data is just as essential as backing it up.
Now go out and celebrate!