Whether it's accidental deletion, data breach, or hardware failures, backups are essential for helping businesses recover quickly from inevitable SaaS data loss or corruption incidents. As critical as that is, though, if you only use backups to recover, you're leaving value on the table.
The truth is, backup data should be a safety net for when things go wrong AND a strategic advantage to help you drive your business forward.
The Safety Net: Data Risks are Increasing
As businesses rely on SaaS applications like Salesforce more every day, the risks of data loss are increasing. A recent report by AppOmni found that 31% of organizations experienced a SaaS data breach this year, a five-point uptick from last year.
As these incidents become more frequent and severe, traditional backup approaches are no longer enough. Most data backups operate on a fixed schedule, capturing data at regular intervals. This approach means that data can only be restored to the most recent backup point—whether that's from the last day, the last hour, or even longer. With scheduled-based backups like these, organizations risk incomplete data recovery.
All organizations, but especially those with frequently-changing, sensitive data, must explore alternative approaches to SaaS backup, like Continuous Data Protection (CDP), which not only reduces the risk of data loss but also gives businesses access to more precise, up-to-the-minute historical data, fueling insights.
The Strategic Advantage: Unlocking the Full Value of Your Salesforce Backups
Businesses often consider backups an afterthought—an insurance policy used only when things go wrong. However, backup data holds immense potential. It can provide deeper insights into trends, customer behavior, and operational performance, making it a valuable tool for business intelligence.
Imagine harnessing years of backup data to spot patterns, forecast sales, and improve decision-making. By treating your backups as a resource for analysis and innovation rather than a reactive solution, you’re positioning your business for long-term success.
By analyzing backup data, businesses can:
- Identify Trends: Historical data can reveal long-term patterns in customer behavior, market shifts, or sales performance.
- Spot Anomalies: Without a historical baseline, it’s difficult to detect irregularities in a timely manner. Historical data lets you establish what ‘normal’ looks like, making it easier to spot when something is amiss.
- Improve Decision-Making: Historical data can provide a clearer, more complete picture, empowering better decision-making.
- Enhance Forecasting: By leveraging past performance data, businesses can more accurately predict future performance, recognizing long-term trends and cyclic patterns.
Backup data is also invaluable for supporting Machine Learning (ML) models and AI initiatives. 73% of organizations are increasing their investment in ML and AI but still face challenges in developing effective strategies to derive insights from their historical data. Historical data, stored consistently over time, provides a rich foundation for training and optimizing algorithms. The time-stamped, structured nature of backup data allows businesses to track patterns and changes over long periods, which is essential for building high-performing AI models.
Ready to Unlock the Full Potential of Your Salesforce Data?
Your backups are more than just a recovery tool; it’s a strategic asset. By rethinking your approach and leveraging solutions from Own, like Continuous Data Protection and Discover, you can turn your backups into a driver of innovation. Ready to turn your backup data into actionable insights? Check out our industry-specific Discover use cases for inspiration.
And to learn more, read our comprehensive guide, “From Safety Net to Strategic Advantage,” and discover how you can maximize the value of your backups. Explore strategies to make your backup data work harder for your business—from enhanced recovery to AI-powered insights.
