When a hurricane threatens Vero Beach or the Treasure Coast, you know the routine: stock up on water, check your batteries, and put up the shutters. Your business needs a plan for its records and systems too.
At Unified Technology Solutions, we encourage you to give your business data the same attention. If your office loses power, floods, or becomes inaccessible, could your staff get back to work without rebuilding customer records, accounting files, and years of documents?
Reliable business data backups give you a way to recover those records. It should be in place before a storm is approaching, and it needs to work just as well when the problem is a failed computer or an accidentally deleted file.
Plan for the disasters that could affect your Treasure Coast business
Hurricanes are an obvious concern in Vero Beach, but your recovery plan should cover more than a direct hit from a major storm. Consider these local hazards and what each could mean for your ability to work:
- Hurricanes and tropical storms. Wind damage, water intrusion, and blocked roads can leave you unable to use your office. Plan how you would recover essential data onto replacement equipment at another location.
- Flooding from heavy rain or storm surge. Indian River County identifies both heavy rainfall and coastal storm effects as sources of flooding. Your exposure depends on your property; being away from the beachfront does not remove the need to check it. A backup drive in the same flooded room as your server may be lost with it.
- Severe thunderstorms and lightning. These can damage equipment and interrupt electricity. Surge protection and battery backup can reduce some equipment and shutdown risks, but neither replaces a separate, usable copy of your data.
- Tornadoes. These are a real local risk, including during tropical weather. The National Weather Service documented tornado damage in Vero Beach and Fort Pierce during Hurricane Milton on October 9, 2024. Your data recovery plan needs to work even if you cannot reach the building.
- Fire and wildfire-related disruption. A building fire can destroy equipment and onsite backups together. Wildfire exposure varies by location, especially near vegetation; smoke or access restrictions may interrupt work even if your office is not damaged. Keep a recovery copy away from the premises.
Power and internet outages can also stop your staff from working without destroying any data. Check how you would power temporary equipment, connect from another location, and reach your offsite backups. For example, a cloud copy does little to help you reopen if you have no workable way to retrieve it.
Review your specific property and operating needs rather than assuming every business faces the same exposure. Use Indian River County Emergency Management for local preparedness resources, emergency alerts, evacuation information, and links to flood information. If you operate elsewhere on the Treasure Coast, also follow your own county’s emergency instructions.
Start with the data your business needs to operate
Backing up one shared folder does not necessarily protect everything your business depends on. Important information may be spread across a server, employee laptops, email accounts, and cloud applications.
Start by asking what you would need if you had to reopen your business from another location tomorrow. Your list might include:
- Customer and vendor records, contracts, and current projects.
- Accounting data, invoices, and payroll records.
- Shared documents, email, calendars, and contacts.
- Files stored only on an employee’s computer.
- Business software databases, installation details, licenses, and system settings.
Some applications need a specific backup process to produce a usable copy of their database. A copy of an open file may not be enough. Ask your IT provider to confirm how each important application is protected and what it would take to restore it.
Keep more than one copy, with one away from the office
A backup drive sitting beside your server may help when a file is deleted. If both devices are damaged by the same flood, that copy may be lost too.
The 3-2-1 backup rule is a useful starting point: keep three copies of important data, including the original; use two different types of storage media; and keep one copy offsite.
For example, your working data might be on a server, with a local backup for convenient recovery and a separate cloud backup stored away from your office. Your IT provider should check that the arrangement actually protects against the risks your business faces.
Cloud backup can be particularly useful for businesses in Vero Beach and across the Treasure Coast because it puts a recovery copy outside the building. But do not assume every cloud service stores your data outside the area affected by a hurricane. Ask where backup copies are held and what happens if that location or service becomes unavailable.
Also ask how you would retrieve a large backup. Downloading it over a temporary internet connection could take longer than expected. Offsite storage is one part of the plan; getting the data back is another.
Understand the difference between cloud sync and backup
Having files in the cloud does not automatically answer every recovery question. A sync service keeps changes consistent across locations, which can include deletions. That means deleting a file in one place may also remove it from other synced locations.
Recycle bins and version history can help, but they have limits. Check which data your cloud services cover, how far back you can recover it, and who can remove it permanently. Then decide whether you need a separate backup to meet your business’s needs.
The same review should include cloud accounting, customer management, and other business applications. Find out whether you can restore individual records, recover a complete account, or only export a limited set of information.
Protect the backups themselves
Backups also need protection against unauthorized access and deletion. A copy reachable through the same compromised account as your working data may be at risk during a cyberattack.
CISA’s ransomware guidance recommends encrypted offline backups and regular recovery testing. Ask your provider about a protected offline copy or an immutable backup, which prevents changes or deletion for a defined period when configured correctly.
Use separate backup administration credentials where practical, limit access, and enable multifactor authentication where supported. Make sure the people responsible for recovery can obtain the required credentials and encryption keys securely if office equipment is unavailable.
Set the schedule around how much work you could lose
“We back up every night” sounds reassuring until you consider everything your staff enters during a busy day. If a system fails at 4 p.m. and the last usable backup is from the night before, the missing work could include orders, appointments, and payments.
Choose a backup schedule around how much lost work your business could reasonably recreate. A folder that changes occasionally has different needs from a database staff update throughout the day.
Keep enough older recovery points to help with problems discovered later. If someone notices a missing folder two weeks after deleting it, yesterday’s backup alone may not help. The right retention period depends on your work and how quickly you are likely to notice a problem.
Test a restore before you need one
A completed backup job is useful information. A successful restore provides stronger evidence that you can recover.
Have your IT provider test recovery regularly and after significant system changes. Start with a sample file, then test the applications or systems your business needs most. Restore into a safe test location so the exercise does not overwrite working data.
Check that recovered files open, that an application can use its restored database, and that authorized staff can access what they need. Record how long the process takes and any missing steps.
For example, recovering accounting data will not get you very far if you cannot install the accounting software or obtain its license details. A restore test helps identify those dependencies while there is time to fix them.
Make backup checks part of hurricane preparation
Before a storm threatens your area, review these questions with the person responsible for your IT:
- When did the last successful backup finish, and what did it include?
- Has the offsite copy finished transferring?
- When was recovery last tested, and what was restored?
- Can authorized staff reach essential files from another location?
- Who will handle recovery if the office is inaccessible?
- Are recovery instructions and contact details available outside the office?
Someone should also receive backup failure alerts and follow up on them throughout the year. An automated schedule still needs oversight.
A backup cannot restore power or reopen a damaged building. It can give you a way to recover the information you need while you work through those other problems. Include temporary equipment, internet access, and staff communication in your wider recovery plan.
Back up now, while you have time to check
The message from our original article still holds: after taking care of people and property, make protecting your business data a priority.
If you are unsure what is being backed up, where the copies are stored, or whether you could restore them, start there. Review our backup services, or contact UTS to discuss your current setup and recovery needs.