Wired Continuity: Backup and Recovery
Backup and recovery is the discipline of making sure that when something destroys your production data — ransomware, hardware failure, accidental deletion, fire, or a site-level outage — you can restore the business to working order within an agreed time and with an acceptable amount of data loss. For South African businesses, backup and recovery has a sharper edge than for international peers: load-shedding-driven hardware failures are more frequent, ransomware groups specifically target SME backup systems, and POPIA makes uncontrolled data loss a regulatory event with documented consequences.
Most South African SMEs have backups. Far fewer have backups that actually restore. Wired Continuity is the productised backup-and-recovery service that closes that gap — automated daily verification, scheduled restore testing, immutable copies that ransomware can't reach, and documented evidence you can hand to your board, your auditor, or the Information Regulator if asked.
Wired Continuity extends your continuity program with automated backup validation and disaster simulation so recovery isn't theoretical when it matters.
What's Included in Wired Continuity
1. Backup Architecture Aligned to 3-2-1 Plus Immutable
The basic 3-2-1 rule (three copies, two media types, one off-site) is necessary but no longer sufficient against modern ransomware. We layer immutable / air-gapped storage so attackers can't encrypt your recovery option.
- Image-level and file-level backup for servers, endpoints, and Microsoft 365 / Google Workspace
- Off-site replication to a separate cloud region
- Immutable storage (object lock / WORM) for ransomware containment
- Encryption at rest and in transit
- Documented retention by data category
2. Automated Backup Verification
A backup job that "completed successfully" isn't the same as a backup that can be restored. We verify the integrity of every backup through automated checks — not just job-success status.
- Continuous verification of backup integrity (checksum + test-mount)
- Failure alerts as soon as a check fails
- Trend reporting on backup health and size growth
- Summary report to your operations team on a documented cadence
3. Scheduled Restore Testing
The only proof that a backup works is restoring from it. We schedule restore tests for Tier-1 systems on a documented cadence, document the results, and surface any gaps for remediation.
- Restore test for each Tier-1 system on a documented cadence
- Full DR failover test for critical workloads on a documented cadence
- Documented test results with restore times and any issues found
- Remediation plan when tests reveal gaps
4. Disaster Recovery Architecture
Backups are necessary for DR but they aren't sufficient — DR also needs documented recovery procedures, identity-recovery steps, and decision-makers for declaring a disaster.
- Defined RTO and RPO per protected system
- Documented runbook for the most likely recovery scenarios
- Identity and access recovery (Active Directory, M365, Google Workspace)
- Network and DNS recovery steps
- Communication template for stakeholders during recovery
5. POPIA-Aligned Data Protection Evidence
POPIA Section 19 requires you to take appropriate technical measures to safeguard personal information — and to be able to prove you've done so. Wired Continuity produces the evidence.
- Retention policy documentation per data category
- Access logging on backup and recovery actions
- Breach notification readiness documentation
- Auditor-ready reports for compliance reviews
Why a Productised Backup and Recovery Service?
Most SA SMEs have backup of some kind — a NAS in the server room, M365 native retention, or a free-tier cloud backup. The gaps that turn up when something actually goes wrong are predictable:
- Backups that fail silently. Job success isn't the same as restore success. The first time anyone notices is during a real restore — which is the worst possible time to find out.
- Microsoft and Google don't fully back up M365 / Workspace. Native retention has gaps that most buyers don't realise until a malicious deletion or a former employee's mailbox is needed years later.
- Single backup destination. If your backup lives on the same network as production, ransomware encrypts it along with everything else.
- No documented RTOs and RPOs. Without targets, "we'll do our best" becomes the recovery promise — which is hard to defend to leadership, customers, or regulators.
- No restore testing. The plan exists in theory but has never been exercised.
Wired Continuity is the productised service that closes all five gaps with a fixed monthly cost and documented evidence.
Wired Continuity vs Full Business Continuity Programme
| Capability | Wired Continuity (productised) |
Business Continuity Programme (consultative) |
|---|---|---|
| Backup architecture | ✓ Included | ✓ Included |
| Automated verification | ✓ Continuous | ✓ Continuous |
| Restore testing | ✓ On schedule | ✓ On schedule + full DR failover |
| Immutable backup | ✓ Included | ✓ Included |
| Documented runbook | ✓ Template | ✓ Custom to your environment |
| BIA and full BCP | ✗ | ✓ Included |
| Tabletop exercises | ✗ | ✓ Included |
| Resilience testing for non-IT functions | ✗ | ✓ Included |
| Deployment | Productised, faster to stand up | Custom, full programme |
| Fit for | SMEs needing strong backup/DR, fast | Larger organisations needing a full continuity programme |
How a Wired Continuity Deployment Runs
Every deployment follows the same five phases — the timeline scales with your data volumes and protected-system count. We agree realistic dates with you during scoping.
- Assessment. Current backup review, data inventory, RTO/RPO baseline.
- Design. Architecture, immutable storage tier, retention policy.
- Deployment. Agent rollout, off-site replication setup, immutable storage configuration.
- First restore test. Documented restore of at least one Tier-1 system.
- Ongoing. Continuous verification, structured health report, scheduled restore tests.
Measurable Outcomes
- Continuously verified backup integrity — not just job success, but actual restore-ability
- Documented restore test evidence on a scheduled cadence — proof your backups work, ready for auditors and insurers
- Defined RTO and RPO per protected system — agreed in writing, met in practice
- Immutable backup layer so ransomware can't take your recovery with it
- POPIA-aligned data protection documentation ready for an Information Regulator inquiry
- Reduced incident-to-recovery time vs an in-house DIY backup baseline
Frequently Asked Questions
What is backup and recovery?
Backup is the practice of making copies of your data so you can restore it if the original is lost, corrupted, encrypted by ransomware, or deleted.
Recovery is the technical process of bringing systems back into operation from those backups, within a documented Recovery Time Objective (RTO) and with a defined Recovery Point Objective (RPO).
For South African businesses, backup and recovery has to specifically account for load-shedding hardware failures, ransomware targeting backup systems, and POPIA-aligned retention.
What's the difference between Wired Continuity and your full Business Continuity service?
Wired Continuity is the productised, packaged backup-and-recovery service — fixed monthly cost, defined scope, fast deployment.
Our broader Business Continuity and Data Protection service is consultative — a full business continuity programme covering people, processes, suppliers, and physical sites, not just IT backup.
Most clients start with Wired Continuity and add the broader programme if scope justifies it.
Does Microsoft 365 back up my data?
Not in the way most buyers assume. Microsoft 365 has retention windows (typically 30 days for deleted items, 14 days for deleted mailboxes) but does not provide point-in-time recovery, malicious deletion protection beyond retention, or ransomware-resilient long-term backups.
For real protection of M365 data, a third-party backup layer (Veeam, Acronis, Microsoft 365 Backup) is required — which Wired Continuity includes.
How fast can you recover from ransomware?
With Wired Continuity's immutable backup layer, file-level recovery starts once the recovery decision is made. Full server recovery time depends on data volumes and the recovery tier you've contracted, which is documented in your service agreement.
For Tier-1 systems with stricter RTOs, we maintain warm DR architecture to support faster recovery. Speed depends on what you've contracted — we'll quote realistic numbers during scoping.
How often do you test backups?
Automated integrity checks run with every backup. Per-system restore tests and full failover DR tests for the highest-criticality workloads each happen on a documented cadence appropriate to system criticality and your business risk tolerance.
Every test result is documented and surfaces remediation actions if gaps are found.
Is Wired Continuity POPIA-compliant?
Yes. Wired Continuity is designed to meet POPIA Section 19 security safeguard requirements: encryption at rest and in transit, documented retention by data category, access logging on backup and recovery operations, and breach notification readiness.
The evidence is produced as part of the service and is auditor-ready.