F
Forged
Consulting Group
← Back to HomeDiscuss Your Project
Service Detail

Backup & Disaster Recovery

Managed backup with tested recovery procedures and defined RPO/RTO — because backups that aren't tested aren't backups.

Every organization has backups. Almost none of them have tested disaster recovery. The gap between 'we run backups' and 'we can recover our business' is where companies fail — discovering during an actual crisis that their backup was corrupted, their recovery time is measured in days instead of hours, or the one system they needed most wasn't included. Forged designs, implements, and continuously validates backup and disaster recovery solutions with defined RPO and RTO targets that are proven, not assumed.

What's Covered

Scope of Assessment

Server & VM Backup

Image-level and file-level backup for physical servers, VMware, Hyper-V, and cloud VMs. Full, incremental, and synthetic full backup schedules optimized for your recovery requirements and storage budget.

Microsoft 365 & SaaS Backup

Exchange, SharePoint, OneDrive, and Teams data backed up independently of Microsoft's native retention. Because Microsoft's shared responsibility model means your data is your responsibility.

Database & Application Backup

SQL Server, MySQL, PostgreSQL, and application-specific backups with transaction log management, point-in-time recovery capability, and application-consistent snapshots.

Disaster Recovery Planning

Documented DR plans with defined RPO/RTO for every critical system, recovery procedures, communication protocols, and escalation chains. Written for execution under pressure, not for a shelf.

Recovery Testing & Validation

Monthly automated restore tests and quarterly full DR simulations. Every test documented with timestamps, success/failure results, and RTO measurements. The evidence your auditor and insurer need.

Business Continuity Integration

DR plans integrated with your broader business continuity program — alternate work locations, communication plans, vendor dependencies, and manual process fallbacks for when systems are down.

Our Process

How It Works

01

Business Impact Analysis

Before we design anything, we identify what matters most to your business. Which systems are critical? How long can they be down? How much data can you afford to lose? The answers drive every design decision.

  • System criticality ranking — Tier 1 (business-stopping) through Tier 4 (convenience)
  • RPO definition per system — how much data loss is tolerable (minutes, hours, one day)
  • RTO definition per system — how fast must each system be recovered
  • Dependency mapping — what systems depend on what, and what's the recovery sequence
  • Cost of downtime calculation — real numbers your leadership can use for budget justification
02

Backup Architecture Design

A backup strategy matched to your RPO/RTO targets and budget — not a one-size-fits-all product deployment. Local backup for fast recovery, offsite replication for disaster scenarios, and cloud archival for long-term retention.

  • 3-2-1 backup architecture — three copies, two media types, one offsite
  • Backup schedule design — full, incremental, and synthetic full optimized per workload
  • Retention policy design — daily, weekly, monthly, yearly retention aligned with compliance
  • Encryption configuration — data encrypted in transit and at rest with managed keys
  • Network impact assessment — backup traffic scheduled to avoid business-hour congestion
03

Deployment & Initial Validation

Backup agents deployed, schedules configured, and initial full backups completed with validation. Every backup job monitored for success, and the first restore test completed within the first week.

  • Agent deployment across all protected systems
  • Initial full backup with verification of completeness and integrity
  • Offsite replication validated — data confirmed at secondary location
  • First restore test — at least one critical system recovered and validated
  • Monitoring and alerting configured — failed jobs escalated immediately
04

Ongoing Management & Testing

Backup isn't set-and-forget. We monitor every job daily, investigate every failure, perform monthly restore tests, and run quarterly DR simulations. When your data is on the line, verified recoverability is the only metric that matters.

  • Daily backup job monitoring with same-day failure investigation
  • Monthly automated restore tests with documented results
  • Quarterly tabletop DR exercise with your key stakeholders
  • Annual full DR simulation — systems actually recovered in the DR environment
  • Backup capacity planning — storage growth trending and budget forecasting
Deliverables

What You Receive

Business Impact Analysis Report

Every system ranked by criticality with defined RPO, RTO, and cost-of-downtime figures. The foundation document for your entire backup and DR strategy.

Backup Architecture Document

Complete backup design — what's protected, how often, where it's stored, how long it's retained, and how it's recovered. Technical enough for your IT team, clear enough for your auditor.

Disaster Recovery Plan

Step-by-step recovery procedures for every critical system — who does what, in what order, with what tools, and how to verify success. Written for execution under pressure, not for reading in a conference room.

Monthly Restore Test Reports

Documented proof that your backups work — which systems were restored, how long it took, and whether the data was intact. The report your insurance carrier asks for and your auditor requires.

DR Simulation Results

Quarterly and annual DR test documentation — what was tested, what worked, what didn't, and what was improved. Demonstrated RTO measurements compared to targets.

Backup Health Dashboard

Real-time visibility into backup job status, storage utilization, replication status, and upcoming test schedules. One view showing whether your data is protected right now.

Who It's For

Is This Right for You?

No Tested Backups

You have backup software running but have never tested a full restore. We validate what's actually recoverable and fix the gaps before you find out the hard way.

Ransomware Preparedness

Ransomware specifically targets backups. We design immutable backup architectures with air-gapped copies that attackers can't encrypt, delete, or compromise.

Compliance & Audit Requirements

SOC 2, HIPAA, PCI-DSS, and CMMC all require documented backup procedures and tested recovery capabilities. We provide the controls and the evidence.

Cloud Migration DR Planning

Moving to cloud changes your DR strategy. We design backup and recovery for cloud-native, hybrid, and multi-cloud environments with the same rigor as on-premise.

Multi-Site Organizations

Multiple locations with different systems and different criticality levels. Unified backup management with site-specific recovery priorities and cross-site replication.

Insurance & Cyber Liability

Your cyber insurance carrier increasingly requires proof of tested backups and documented DR plans. We provide the evidence that keeps your policy valid and your premiums manageable.

Common Questions

FAQ

What's the difference between RPO and RTO?

+

RPO (Recovery Point Objective) is how much data you can afford to lose — measured in time. An RPO of 1 hour means you could lose up to 1 hour of data. RTO (Recovery Time Objective) is how quickly systems must be operational after a disaster. An RTO of 4 hours means the system must be running within 4 hours of the failure. Both numbers drive your backup architecture and cost.

Doesn't Microsoft 365 handle its own backups?

+

Microsoft guarantees infrastructure availability — not your data recovery. Their shared responsibility model explicitly states that data protection is the customer's responsibility. Deleted emails, corrupted SharePoint sites, and malicious data destruction are your problem to solve. Native retention policies help, but they're not a substitute for independent backup with granular recovery.

How often should we test disaster recovery?

+

Monthly automated restore tests for critical systems (verifying backups are recoverable), quarterly tabletop exercises with stakeholders (walking through the DR plan), and annual full DR simulations where systems are actually recovered in a DR environment. Most compliance frameworks require at minimum annual DR testing with documented results.

What does ransomware-resistant backup look like?

+

Immutable backups that can't be modified or deleted for a defined retention period — even by administrators. Air-gapped or isolated copies that aren't accessible from the production network. Separate authentication for backup systems so compromised domain credentials can't reach your backup infrastructure. And tested recovery procedures so you know you can actually restore when you need to.

How much storage do we need for backups?

+

It depends on data volume, change rate, and retention requirements. A typical rule of thumb is 3–5x your source data size for a reasonable retention policy with daily incrementals and monthly fulls. We right-size storage during the design phase using your actual data metrics — not vendor calculator estimates. Cloud-tiered storage (hot for recent backups, cool/archive for older retention) keeps costs manageable.

Case Study
750-Staff Nonprofit Health Organization
Consolidated IT operations and improved quality without business interruption.
Read Case Study

Ready to Get Started?

Schedule a free consultation to discuss your project scope.

Schedule Free Assessment← Back to All Services