For many businesses, moving files and data to the cloud feels like checking an important box. If your data is in the cloud, you’re covered, right?
But a recent situation involving a PBS member station offers an important reminder: storing data in the cloud does not automatically mean that data is safely backed up.
A Cloud Storage Case Study: Nine PBS
Nine PBS, the public television station serving the St. Louis area, had entrusted decades of archival material to an outside cloud storage provider. The collection was significant – more than 50 terabytes of data representing roughly 70 years of programming and regional history.
Then the unexpected happened.
The station’s cloud storage provider, Open Source Storage (OSS), ceased operating. Nine PBS had reportedly attempted to contact the company about renewing its agreement, but the provider stopped responding. When the contract expired, the station lost access to its data.
The files hadn’t necessarily been destroyed. They simply weren’t accessible to the organization that owned them. And that distinction is important.
Nine PBS eventually found itself in court trying to regain access to its own archives. The situation became even more complicated because OSS had housed its infrastructure at a third-party data center. Nine PBS had a relationship with its cloud provider, while that provider had a separate relationship with the company operating the physical data center.
A judge has since established a process that could allow Nine PBS to retrieve its data, but the station’s experience provides an important lesson for every organization relying on cloud services.
“In the Cloud” Doesn’t Mean Invulnerable
Cloud services have changed the way businesses operate and for good reason.
They can provide convenient access to information, support remote work, simplify collaboration, reduce dependence on onsite hardware and provide valuable redundancy.
But there’s a dangerous assumption that can come with them: If it’s in the cloud, I don’t have to worry about losing it.
Your data still exists somewhere. It is stored on infrastructure operated by another company or potentially by companies behind that company. That creates risks businesses don’t always consider.
What happens if your provider suddenly goes out of business?
What if your account becomes inaccessible?
What if a contractual dispute prevents you from retrieving your information?
What if data is accidentally deleted or corrupted?
What if ransomware compromises cloud-based files?
And, perhaps most importantly:
Could your business recover its critical information without the cooperation of that provider?
If the answer is no, you may have more risk than you realize.
Cloud Storage and Cloud Backup Aren’t Necessarily the Same Thing
One of the biggest misconceptions surrounding cloud technology is that storing information in a cloud application automatically gives you a complete backup. It doesn’t.
Think about the difference this way: Storage is where your information lives. Backup is how you get that information back when something goes wrong.
A good backup and disaster recovery strategy considers more than where data is stored. It considers how quickly it can be recovered, how much data could potentially be lost, where additional copies are maintained, and what happens if one system or provider becomes unavailable.
That’s why relying on a single location, even when that location is “the cloud”, can create unnecessary risk.
Don’t Put All Your Data in One Basket
For businesses, the lesson from Nine PBS isn’t to avoid the cloud. It’s to avoid having a single point of failure.
Critical business information should have independent protection so one vendor failure, cyberattack, technical problem or human error doesn’t put the entire organization at risk. That may mean maintaining backups separate from your primary cloud environment, using multiple locations or storage methods.
There’s another important part of backup planning that’s easy to overlook. And that is, having a backup isn’t enough. You need to know that you can recover from it. Regularly verifying that your data can actually be restored is a critical part of your backup plan. A backup that exists but can’t be accessed when your business needs it isn’t doing you much good.
Ask a Different Question
Instead of asking: “Is our data in the cloud?”
Business owners and leaders should be asking: “If we lost access to our primary systems tomorrow, how would we get our data back?”
Then take it one step further.
How long would recovery take?
How much information could be lost?
Where are the backup copies stored?
Are those backups independent from the primary system?
When was the last time someone tested the recovery process?
Who is responsible for getting everything running again?
Those questions provide a much clearer picture of whether your business is truly protected.
The Cloud Can Be Part of the Plan. It Shouldn’t Be the Entire Plan.
At SelecTech, we believe technology should help your business operate more efficiently and with less stress, not leave you wondering whether your information will still be there when you need it.
That’s why backup and disaster recovery should be designed around your business, your data and the impact downtime would have on your organization. The Nine PBS situation is unusual, but the lesson applies to businesses of every size:
Don’t confuse storing your data with protecting your data. The cloud is an incredibly useful tool. Just make sure you have a plan for the day when the cloud you depend on isn’t available.
Is Your Backup Really a Backup?
If you’re not sure what would happen if your cloud provider, Microsoft 365 environment or primary storage suddenly became unavailable, SelecTech can help you take a closer look. We’ll help you understand where your data lives, how it’s currently protected and what options make sense for your organization without burying you in technical jargon.
Because your backup is only as good as your ability to recover from it.