Every 11 seconds, a company worldwide falls victim to a ransomware attack. This statistic has been repeated for years in cybersecurity reports and conferences, and rather than decreasing, it has become an established part of the digital landscape. At the same time, the average cost of a data breach now exceeds $4.9 million globally, according to IBM’s latest reports on breach costs. In this environment, viewing backups as “optional” or something to do “later” has become an overly risky gamble.
The narrative has shifted: it’s no longer a question of if an organization will be attacked or experience a data incident, but rather when and how severe the impact will be. And most importantly, whether they will have a complete, recent, and recoverable copy of their critical data when it happens.
Why so many companies continue to postpone data protection
Despite constant headlines about cyberattacks, a significant portion of the business landscape still delays implementing backup and recovery solutions. Market research and interviews always point to the same barriers.
1. License costs and perception of “expense”
Many companies consider enterprise backup solutions expensive and hard to justify compared to other visible priorities: new features, marketing, business growth. However, the data paints a different picture: the total cost of a breach or ransomware attack can multiply the investment in a well-designed backup system by 5 or 10 times, especially when accounting for lost business, downtime, external consulting, and potential regulatory fines.
2. Lack of internal knowledge and deployment time
Adopting new tools involves training and procedural changes. In many organizations, IT teams are overwhelmed and reluctant to adopt modern backup platforms without support or guarantees of assistance during emergencies. As a result, decisions are repeatedly postponed… until an incident occurs.
3. Compatibility with legacy infrastructure
Few companies start from scratch. It’s common to find a mix of old physical servers, virtual machines, databases, cloud applications, and SaaS services. Integrating all these into a unified backup strategy is complex. Any perceived incompatibility becomes an additional risk and again pushes the decision further into the future.
4. Fear of impact on performance
Another common concern is that backup windows might slow down production systems or saturate storage. Without proper planning—such as frequent incremental backups and spaced full backups—these operations can create bottlenecks. But completely skipping backups doesn’t solve the issue; it just shifts the problem to a more critical moment.
5. Bandwidth limitations and remote sites
In companies with international branches, stores, or factories connected via limited links, transmitting large amounts of data to a central repository or cloud presents challenges. Without techniques like deduplication, compression, or “near-site” copies, backups might be incomplete or delayed.
6. Unsupported systems requiring custom scripts
It’s not uncommon to find critical systems or applications running on outdated or very specialized operating systems that are not fully supported by current solutions. In these cases, custom scripts dependent on a few knowledgeable people are used. If those people leave or the script fails, the backup becomes an illusion.
The real cost of doing nothing
Understanding these barriers is important. But even more crucial is accepting the cost of not overcoming them. Today, a serious data incident is no longer measured solely in downtime hours but also in its overall business impact.
Long, chaotic, and expensive recoveries
When ransomware or a breach occurs, recovery isn’t just about “restoring a backup.” It involves communicating with clients and suppliers, coordinating internal and external teams, reviewing compromised systems, complying with legal obligations, and in many cases, managing cyber insurance coverage (or its absence).
In complex incidents, this phase can last weeks. During that time, revenue drops, productivity declines, and costs skyrocket—covering forensic consulting, infrastructure reinforcement, overtime, customer support, and more.
Loss of sensitive customer data
In sectors like banking, healthcare, education, insurance, and e-commerce, a leak of personal data not only erodes customer trust but can also lead to fines from data protection authorities. In Europe, the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) has significantly increased the standards of accountability and responsibility for data controllers.
Without reliable backups, reconstructing what happened, which data was affected, and how to minimize damage becomes considerably more difficult.
Exposure of business secrets and strategic plans
Beyond personal data, many organizations store highly valuable competitive information: blueprints, algorithms, market studies, pricing strategies, R&D projects. When such information is compromised, it often ends up in the hands of competitors or clandestine forums, with impacts that are hard to gauge in the medium and long term.
Reputational damage and loss of trust
In an increasingly digital marketplace, trust is a critical asset. Once a company is associated with a major security incident, its reputation can suffer for years. Some studies indicate that affected companies must significantly increase their communication and marketing efforts over the next two years to attempt to restore their position.
Backup as a business safety net, not just a “technical extra”
The traditional view of backup was as a technical task on the IT department’s to-do list, alongside patches or hardware upgrades. That perspective is now outdated.
Today, backup should be understood as a business continuity lever. It’s the safety net that allows a company to resume operations after a serious incident without losing everything. It’s not just about nightly copies; it involves defining clear recovery objectives (RPO and RTO), having multiple protection layers, and testing the process regularly.
For executive leaders and boards, the question isn’t just “how much does backup software cost,” but rather how much could it cost not to have it or to have it poorly configured.
How should a modern backup strategy look?
Beyond specific tools, cybersecurity experts agree on several principles that define a robust and realistic backup strategy:
1. Multiple copies and the 3-2-1 rule
Maintain at least three copies of data, on two different media types, with one copy stored off-site (e.g., in another data center or in the cloud). This approach reduces the risk of losing everything due to a single physical or logical incident.
2. Immutable backups and ransomware protection
More organizations are adopting immutable repositories where backups cannot be altered or deleted during a specified period. This makes it harder for ransomware to encrypt backups and provides a “last line of defense” for data recovery.
3. Regular recovery tests
A backup that is never restored is merely an act of faith. Leading companies conduct periodic recovery drills—both partial and full, sometimes integrated into incident response exercises—to validate actual restore times and find vulnerabilities.
4. Comprehensive coverage: from servers to SaaS
Critical data no longer only resides on local servers. It’s distributed across virtual machines, databases, file systems, SaaS platforms (like email, CRM, online Office), public and private clouds. Backup strategies must encompass all these environments with coherent policies.
5. Integration with compliance and data governance
Privacy and cybersecurity regulations require knowing where data resides, who accesses it, and how it’s protected. Backup systems must integrate into this framework through encryption, access controls, audit trails, and retention policies aligned with legal standards.
Key questions organizations should ask when choosing a backup solution
When evaluating options, beyond technical sheets and demos, IT and business leaders typically focus on several key questions:
Compatibility with existing infrastructure
Does the solution offer enough flexibility to integrate with current systems, both on-premise and in the cloud? Does it support hypervisors, databases, file systems, and critical applications used daily?
Performance and recovery speed
Does the technology optimize performance (deduplication, compression, incremental copies) without excessively penalizing production systems? What real recovery times can be expected for key services?
Deployment and support
Will the vendor provide close support during implementation and 24/7 assistance for major incidents? Are there clear guides, best practices, and training plans for internal teams?
Licensing model and total cost of ownership
Does the licensing structure fit the organization’s budget and risk strategy? Is it capacity-based, per machine, per user? How will costs evolve with a 20% annual data growth?
Data security in backups
Are backups stored encrypted? Are there detailed access controls and anomaly detection mechanisms (mass changes, ransomware patterns)? Are access and restore events logged for auditing?
Shifting from reaction to resilience
The takeaway is clear: in an environment where attacks are becoming more professionalized, breaches more costly, and reliance on digital systems total, considering backup as “optional” is equivalent to leaving the business to chance.
The organizations best prepared to withstand incidents are not those that never suffer problems, but those that have planned their response in advance. A well-designed, tested, and up-to-date backup strategy is increasingly recognized as a core pillar of resilience.
In practice, the question is no longer whether you can afford to invest in backup, but whether you can afford not to.
Frequently Asked Questions about Enterprise Backups
What is the average cost of a data breach for a company?
Recent reports estimate the global average cost at about $4.9 million, including business disruption, technical response, communication, fines, and customer loss. In regulated sectors or countries with high costs, the bill can be even higher.
How often should a company back up its data?
It depends on the so-called RPO (Recovery Point Objective). Many organizations perform multiple incremental backups daily and periodic full backups. The more critical the system, the shorter the backup window. In high-demand environments, near real-time replication may be employed.
What is the 3-2-1 rule in backups and why is it important?
The 3-2-1 rule recommends having at least three copies of data on two different media types, with one stored off-site. This minimizes the risk of losing all data due to a single incident, whether an attack, hardware failure, or physical disaster.
Is cloud backup enough protection against ransomware?
Cloud storage helps, but it’s not a standalone guarantee. Combining cloud with immutable backups, encryption, strict access controls, and regular restoration tests is essential. Poorly designed setups may still be vulnerable if ransomware encrypts cloud-stored data.
Sources
IBM – Cost of a Data Breach Report 2024 and 2025
Zscaler – Summary of key findings from IBM’s breach cost report 2024
Cyberpilot – Analysis of the increase in average breach costs in 2024
Optiv and other sector analyses on ransomware attack frequency