Wayrest Technology

Small business IT guide

Could your business actually restore its files?

A backup matters when it brings the right information back in time to keep your business working. Check what you have, what might be missing and who is responsible.

Start the checklist ↓
Illustration of data drives and network storage beside a laptop.
Illustrative scene · Wayrest Technology

Two different questions

How far back?
How long offline?

A recent copy and a quick recovery solve different problems. Set both expectations before you need them.

Last usable backupThe version you can recover
Work stopsA file or system is unavailable
Work resumesPeople can use it again
Work you may need to recreate

Between the backup and the interruption.

Time spent recovering

From the interruption to a usable result.

Conceptual timeline. The spacing does not represent a promised recovery time.

Take this to your IT provider

Five questions.
Five useful answers.

Use these prompts to turn “we have backups” into a recovery plan you can discuss and test.

  1. What do we need to recover?

    List the files, mailboxes, accounting data, applications, devices and settings your business depends on. Record where each lives and who owns it.

    Your starting point

    A list of critical systems, with an owner beside each one.

  2. How much work could we afford to lose?

    A nightly backup may leave a day’s work to recreate. Choose a backup frequency for each system based on the work and data at risk.

    Look backwards

    The latest point in time you need to recover to.

  3. How long could we operate without it?

    Restoring one document and rebuilding an entire system are different jobs. Decide which services need to come back first, including the systems they depend on.

    Look forwards

    The time you can allow before people need to work again.

  4. Are the copies protected?

    Check who can access, change or delete backups, and whether a separate or offline copy is appropriate. Protect backup administrator accounts with strong authentication.

    Check the separation

    Who can reach the backup if a normal account is compromised?

  5. Has anyone tested a restore?

    Ask what was restored, how long it took and what failed. Agree regular tests and test again after significant changes.

    Ask for the evidence

    A dated test record, with unresolved issues and named owners.

The Australian Cyber Security Centre’s small business handbook recommends regular backups and checking that you can restore them. Choose a schedule and protection approach that fit your systems.

Walk through an example

One folder.
A complete
rehearsal.

A small office keeps current customer documents in a shared folder. Here is how a sample restore could be checked before a real loss.

Illustrative exercise. This is not a Wayrest client result or a live backup report.

  1. Choose the folder

    The manager identifies current customer documents and the version the business needs.

  2. Restore a separate copy

    The provider restores a sample to a safe test location without overwriting the working files.

  3. Open it. Check it. Time it.

    Confirm that files open, the right information is there and the recovered version is recent enough. Record the elapsed time.

Does the result meet the agreed need?

If it does

Keep the evidence.

Record what worked, the backup version and the time taken. Schedule the next test.

If something is missing

Fix it. Test again.

Record the gap, assign an owner and repeat the failed part after the issue is resolved.

Return to the rehearsal

A sample folder test covers that folder and those conditions. Critical applications and their dependencies need their own recovery exercises. Keep instructions accessible during an outage.

Check the boundaries

Does Microsoft 365 already back everything up?

Microsoft 365 includes recovery and retention features. Their scope and limits depend on the service and your configuration.

Check what is covered, how far back you can recover and who can restore it. A recycle bin or retention policy does not, by itself, answer every recovery question.

What to checkRecovery coverage
Built-in recovery
Confirm which deleted items or earlier versions you can recover, and within what limits.
A backup policy
Microsoft 365 Backup is a separate product for supported Microsoft 365 workloads. Assess it or another solution against your recovery needs and costs.
Other business systems
Inventory everything else too. A Microsoft 365 backup does not automatically protect every application your business uses.

Ask for a coverage list, not an assumption that “it is all in the cloud”.

The next conversation

Questions for your IT provider

What should be included in a backup report?

Ask for covered systems, recent successes and failures, the last successful restore test, unresolved issues and who will act on them.

How often should we test?

Agree a regular schedule based on business risk, and test after significant changes. Include representative files as well as critical systems and their dependencies.

What should we do after ransomware?

Contact your IT provider or incident responder promptly. Avoid blindly restoring into an environment that may still be compromised; preserve evidence and follow an incident response plan.

Read the source guidance

Further reading

See also what to ask an IT support provider.

Not sure what your backups cover?

We can discuss your systems, current backup arrangements and what you need to recover.

Talk to Wayrest ↗