Deciding how long to keep backup copies of your business files is an important part of protecting your company's data. It's not just about having a backup, but also about retaining it for the right period to ensure you can recover from data loss, cyberattacks, or accidental deletion without running into compliance or operational problems.
Why retention periods matter for Australian SMBs
For small and mid-sized businesses in Australia, the length of time you keep backups can directly affect your ability to bounce back from incidents like ransomware attacks or system failures. If backups are deleted too soon, you risk losing critical historical data needed for financial records, customer information, or supplier contracts. On the other hand, keeping backups indefinitely can increase storage costs and complicate data management.
Additionally, certain industries have compliance requirements around data retention—such as financial, health, or legal sectors—that dictate minimum periods for keeping records. Even if your business is not heavily regulated, customer trust depends on your ability to safeguard their data and recover quickly from disruptions.
Real-world example: A 50-person Melbourne marketing agency
Consider a marketing agency with about 50 staff, handling client campaigns and sensitive creative assets. They perform daily backups of their file servers and cloud data. After a ransomware infection, they needed to restore files from a backup taken two weeks earlier because the latest backups were encrypted by the malware.
Their IT provider had set a backup retention policy of 30 days, which allowed the agency to recover without paying the ransom. If backups had been kept for only a week, they would have lost significant work and client trust. This scenario highlights why a backup retention period should balance operational needs and risk tolerance.
Practical checklist: What to consider about backup retention
- Ask your IT provider: What is the current backup retention period? Is it aligned with your industry's compliance requirements?
- Understand backup frequency: How often are backups made? Daily backups with a 30-day retention are common for many SMBs.
- Check backup types: Are backups full, incremental, or differential? This affects recovery speed and storage needs.
- Review storage locations: Are backups stored offsite or in the cloud to protect against physical disasters?
- Test recovery regularly: Can your IT provider demonstrate restoring files from backups of various ages?
- Consider data lifecycle: Identify which data needs longer retention (e.g., financial records) and which can be deleted sooner.
- Evaluate costs: Longer retention means more storage—ensure costs are reasonable and justified.
Next steps for your business
Backup retention is not a one-size-fits-all decision. It depends on your business size, industry, data types, and risk appetite. Discuss your specific needs with a trusted managed IT provider or IT advisor who understands Australian SMBs. They can help design a backup and disaster recovery plan that balances protection, compliance, and cost effectively.