How Enterprises Build Reliable Backup and Recovery Strategies

In May 2026, Canvas, a learning management software owned by Instructure, was affected by a data breach and ransomware orchestrated by a group of hackers named ShinyHunters. Over 3.5 Terabytes of data were reportedly stolen or compromised, affecting over 275 million users from nearly 9,000 educational institutions across the world.

This incident serves as an important reminder that enterprises processing tons of sensitive data need to strengthen and improve their current data storage and retrieval plans before the next major data breach strikes.

For this blog, we’ll discuss how IT teams and MSPs can build a reliable enterprise backup and recovery strategy for their clients, from avoiding common mistakes to adopting the best and most recommended practices.

Why current backup and recovery strategies fail

Recent cybersecurity statistics paint a dire picture:

• Despite over 90% of organizations expressing confidence in their data recovery abilities, only 28% of them were able to actually restore their affected data fully.
• Data from over 7,500 organizations appeared on ransomware leak websites in 2025, a 58% increase from the previous year.
• A Veenam 2024 report reveals that 96% of ransomware attacks targeted backup repositories, with 76% of them succeeding.

These are just a few that expose the inadequacy of current backup and recovery plans in place for many enterprises.

Common enterprise backup mistakes

Many of these strategies fail to defend and recover data for a variety of reasons. Common errors include:

• Relying on a single path to recovery without alternative solutions ready in case of failure
• Having weak redundancy or creating and storing one or a few copies of a dataset
• Maintaining fragmented backup systems hinders swift and efficient recovery
• Lack of recovery testing to test the reliability and readiness of backup systems
• Excluding SaaS and cloud backups in backup and recovery plans
• Ignoring ransomware-centered recovery planning, especially for attacks that target enterprise data storage

Consequences of poor enterprise backup management

A fragmented and poorly planned backup and recovery strategy can result in the following:

• Inconsistent recovery workflows: Unreviewed recovery procedures can lead to gaps in data restoration and incomplete data sets.
• Operational silos: Inconsistent data recovery may lead to departments and teams working independently, hindering proper collaboration and communication.
• Delayed restoration: Longer recovery times lead to prolonged service disruptions, leading to financial losses and customer distrust.
• Incomplete backup visibility: End-users and stakeholders may be left unaware of their data’s security status due to a lack of transparency in the process.
• Compliance exposure: Backup strategies that do not follow or align with compliance standards can lead to serious monetary penalties and legal repercussions.

Current backup and recovery strategies containing one or more of these mistakes need to be reviewed, and their plans revamped to improve data protection and reliability.

How to create a reliable enterprise backup and recovery strategy

A dependable and comprehensive storage and retrieval system possesses a layered data infrastructure managed by a diligent and transparent IT team behind the scenes.

And to build such a strategy requires adopting the following best practices:

Maintain multiple copies of critical data

Redundancy is a key facet of a strong backup strategy. Enterprises need to create and maintain multiple copies of data to reduce operational dependency on a single system and to prepare for the possibility of compromise.

3-2-1 backup strategy: Is it still effective?

Most IT experts recommend using the 3-2-1 backup strategy, where:

• Three copies are made,
• Two copies should be in different storage media, and
• One copy should be off-site or in the cloud.

However, as cyberattacks have become more complex over the years, many are now recommending an enhanced version of this strategy.

For instance, there’s the 3-2-1-1-0 strategy, where, in addition to the aforementioned 3-2-1 framework,

• One immutable copy is created and kept in an isolated, offline storage.
• Zero errors are expected during automated backup and recovery testing.

Separate backup locations

Besides making multiple copies of data, having distributed locations to store backup data helps increase data resilience by reducing the risk of failure and compromise. In simple terms, if one storage medium is compromised, another can be relied upon for data recovery.

When choosing storage media to support your enterprise backup strategy, consider the following:

• Have an off-site storage: Exporting copies to a geographically distant location secures data from a breach in an enterprise’s primary environment.
• Employ cross-region replication: Having asynchronous copies (one editable and one immutable) across different regions enables operational and recovery efficiency.
• Incorporate hybrid cloud redundancy: Cloud storage allows for easy access to data for swift recovery times.

Avoid fragmented backup systems

It’s worth clarifying that employing separate backups does not mean having a fragmented backup system. What this means is that, while you incorporate various storage systems, they should not be managed individually with different tools and platforms.

For efficiency, use a centralized management platform like NinjaOne Backup where you and your IT team can monitor all backup storage in one place.

Combine cloud and on-premise backup locations

The most resilient enterprise backup and recovery strategies employ a hybrid mix of cloud and physical storage, leveraging the advantages of digital and traditional mediums.

Cloud storage enables users to access data remotely in almost any location and is scalable to meet an organization’s growing dataset, whereas their local, on-site counterparts enable faster recovery, operational management, and workflow continuity.

Automate backup operations

With automated tools, backup and recovery workflows can be performed with minimal human intervention, enabling speed, consistency, and scalability.

Tasks that your strategy should incorporate with automation include:

• Backup scheduling: Set a time and frequency of copying and storing full and incremental data.
• Policy enforcement: Determine the scope and data type to be included and excluded in the backup.
• Recovery validation: Collect quantitative criteria to measure the recovery’s success rate.
• Endpoint synchronization: Connect backups to endpoints to sync data, including incremental changes.
• Retention management: Set a retention period to keep a specific dataset before replacement.

Enforce anti-ransomware security measures

Ransomware remains the top security threat for enterprise backups, and preventing such attacks from infiltrating these systems easily requires layers of security policies and procedures.

Maintaining backup isolation

Resilience to ransomware increases when backups are isolated from potential pathways for intrusions. This can be done by implementing immutable backup storage, air-gapped environments, segmented networks, and restricted access.

Restricting administrative access

Limiting access to a select and trusted few reduces backups’ exposure to external threat actors. Enforcing restrictions starts with measures like multi-factor authentication, data encryption, and zero-trust policies.

Monitoring backup integrity continuously

Utilizing tools to monitor all facets of a backup’s integrity ensures that systems are in place for the restoration of data.

Test readiness of enterprise recovery

Enterprises are often misled into believing that data stored in backups will remain in its original state and that various scenarios can be resolved using the same recovery paths. However, this cannot be guaranteed unless you have regularly tested your backup’s readiness, as well as the integrity of its stored data.

Validate recovery workflows

Backup systems must be able to recover data that is essential to a business’s operations and workflows, from files to applications to operating systems.

Simulate recovery scenarios

IT teams can create simulated environments to test recovery procedures in different scenarios, including ransomware attacks, infrastructure outages, data corruption, and natural disasters.

Set and measure recovery objectives

Having metrics in place gives IT teams a baseline to measure the success of recovery strategies. Criteria to be monitored should include Recovery time objectives (RTOs), Recovery point objectives (RPOs), and Operational restoration timelines.

Strengthen your enterprise backup strategy now

When ransomware and other forms of data breaches level up, so should your enterprise backup and recovery plans. Improving the reliability and resilience of enterprise backups should go beyond the creation of multiple copies. It should also include the use of varied and separate backup storage mediums, the leveraging of automation on workflows, the enforcement of strong security measures, and the regular testing of restoration readiness.

Related topics:

• 10 Best Enterprise Backup Solutions in 2026
• What Is Enterprise Backup?
• Data Backup & Recovery for IT Professionals