The Backup Test 60% of Businesses Fail

Your backups are running. Green lights everywhere. But when did you last test a restore? The answer often reveals an uncomfortable truth.

Quick question: If your server died right now, how long would it take to get back to work?

If you answered 'I don't know' or 'I'd need to check with IT', you're not alone. Most business owners assume their backups are fine because they've never had to use them.

That assumption costs 60% of small businesses their entire company when disaster strikes.

The Comfortable Lie We Tell Ourselves

Here's what typically happens:

Someone set up backups years ago. There's a little icon that shows green. Maybe you get a daily email that says 'Backup Successful'. Everything seems fine.

But nobody has actually tested restoring from those backups in... ever?

And that's the problem.

The Scary Statistics

• 60% of SMBs that lose their data shut down within 6 months
• 96% of businesses with a tested disaster recovery plan survive a major incident
• Only 5% of SMBs test their backups regularly
• Average downtime cost: £5,600 per hour for a UK SMB

The maths is brutal. An untested backup is the same as no backup at all.

Common Backup Failures We See

When we audit businesses, we find the same problems again and again:

1. The Backup That Backs Up Nothing

A manufacturing client came to us after their server failed. Their backup software showed green for 18 months. Perfect success every night.

Except someone had changed the backup path, and it was backing up an empty folder. 18 months of green lights. Zero usable data.

2. The Backup You Can't Restore

Another client had proper backups running to an external drive. Everything was there. But when we tried to restore, the backup software had been discontinued. The new version couldn't read the old format.

Their data was there - just completely inaccessible.

3. The Backup That Stayed in the Building

A fire destroyed an office. The backup drive was sitting next to the server. Both destroyed. No offsite copy.

We see this constantly. Backups that protect against accidental deletion but not against fire, flood, or theft.

4. The Cloud Backup Myth

'We use Microsoft 365, so our data is backed up automatically.'

No. It's not.

Microsoft keeps your data available. They don't keep historical versions. If someone deletes files, or your account gets compromised, or ransomware encrypts your SharePoint, Microsoft's 'backup' won't save you.

Microsoft themselves recommend using a third-party backup solution. It's in their terms of service.

The 3-2-1 Rule

Proper backup strategy follows the 3-2-1 rule:

• 3 copies of your data
• 2 different types of storage media
• 1 copy stored offsite (or in a separate cloud account)

This protects against:

• Hardware failure (your main copy dies)
• Software corruption (your backup software breaks)
• Physical disaster (fire, flood, theft)
• Cyber attack (ransomware encrypts everything it can reach)

What You Should Be Backing Up

Most businesses focus on files. But what about:

• Email and contacts - Would you lose client relationships?
• Accounting data - Sage, Xero, QuickBooks - can you export historical data?
• CRM and customer records - How would you rebuild your client list?
• Application settings - Could you reconfigure all your software from scratch?
• Passwords and access - If your password manager died, could you log in anywhere?

The Test That Matters

Here's what a proper backup test looks like:

1. Pick a random file from 3 months ago
2. Ask IT to restore it
3. Time how long it takes
4. Verify the file is correct and usable
5. Document the result

If you can't do this in under an hour, your 'disaster recovery' will actually be a disaster.

For full server recovery:

• Can you restore to different hardware? (The original server is probably dead)
• Do you have the recovery software available? (Not just the backup files)
• Does someone know the process? (Not just 'it's in the documentation somewhere')

Questions That Reveal the Truth

Ask yourself honestly:

• When was your last successful test restore?
• If your office flooded tonight, where would you get your data tomorrow?
• Who knows the backup restore process? What if that person is on holiday?
• How many days of data could you afford to lose?
• Could you survive losing everything?

How We Fix This

Our Backup & Disaster Recovery service implements proper protection:

• Automated daily backups with verification
• Cloud storage in a UK data centre (separate from your main systems)
• Regular test restores documented and reported
• Microsoft 365 backup because Microsoft doesn't do it for you
• Clear recovery procedures that don't rely on one person's knowledge

Recovery time drops from 'we don't know' to 'we've tested it - 4 hours for full restore'.

The Quick Check

Before something goes wrong, find out where you actually stand.

We've built a quick confidence check that takes 2 minutes. It asks the questions most businesses avoid, and gives you a clear picture of your disaster recovery readiness.

Take the Backup Confidence Check

The time to discover your backups don't work is not when you desperately need them.