By Guan Tian Lai, COO of Exabytes
Imagine a typical workday suddenly disrupted. A critical system goes down, employees are locked out, customer orders stall, and support lines start ringing non-stop. In the midst of the chaos, someone says, “It’s fine, we have backups.” It sounds reassuring—but in reality, that statement often hides a dangerous misconception.
Difference between Backups & Disaster Recovery
Backups are not the same as recovery. A backup only confirms that a copy of data exists. Disaster recovery, on the other hand, determines whether a business can restore its systems, applications, and operations within an acceptable timeframe—and with minimal data loss. The gap between these two is where many organisations lose valuable hours, revenue, and customer trust.
This distinction is becoming increasingly critical as Malaysia’s digital economy grows more complex. Businesses today face a range of disruptions, from human error and system misconfigurations to credential breaches and cloud service outages. These are not rare, large-scale disasters—they are everyday risks that expose a deeper issue: most organisations are not truly prepared to recover.
Warnings from the Malaysia Computer Emergency Response Team have also highlighted a rise in ransomware incidents in early 2026, reinforcing the urgency for stronger cybersecurity and recovery strategies. As threats evolve alongside cloud and AI adoption, relying on backups alone is no longer sufficient.
Recovery Time Objective (RTO) and Recovery Point Objective (RPO)
At the heart of recovery readiness are two key concepts: Recovery Time Objective (RTO) and Recovery Point Objective (RPO). RTO defines how quickly a system must be restored before the impact becomes unacceptable, while RPO determines how much data loss a business can tolerate. These are not merely technical metrics—they are business decisions that directly affect operations, customer experience, and financial performance.
However, many organisations fail not because they lack backups, but because they have never tested recovery. A system may show “backup successful,” yet no one knows how long restoration will take—or whether it will work at all. Dependencies such as identity systems, network configurations, and application integrations are often overlooked, making full recovery far more complex than expected.
Another common challenge is the lack of clear ownership during incidents. When everything is urgent, teams can become paralysed, unsure of what to restore first. Without a defined recovery sequence or runbook, valuable time is lost in decision-making instead of action. Access issues can further complicate the situation, especially when the right personnel cannot retrieve or restore systems quickly.
Modern cyber threats add another layer of risk. In cases of credential compromise, attackers may not need to destroy backups—they can simply restrict access or delete them using the same privileged accounts. This is why secure, immutable backups and separated access controls are essential components of any recovery strategy.
Backup-as-a-Service (BaaS) and Disaster Recovery-as-a-Service (DRaaS)
It is also important to understand the difference between Backup-as-a-Service (BaaS) and Disaster Recovery-as-a-Service (DRaaS). While BaaS focuses on storing data copies, DRaaS ensures that entire systems and operations can be restored. Confusing the two can lead to prolonged downtime and costly disruptions.
To build true resilience, Malaysian businesses must shift from a backup mindset to a recovery-first approach. This begins with identifying critical systems that must be restored immediately, defining realistic RTO and RPO targets, and creating a clear recovery plan. Regular disaster recovery drills are equally important, as they reveal gaps that are often invisible during normal operations.
Ultimately, the goal is not just to have data—it is to restore business continuity quickly, confidently, and with minimal impact. Because in today’s environment, the real risk is not that something will break. It is that when it does, the organisation is not ready to recover.
As businesses reflect on initiatives like World Backup Day, the message for 2026 is clear: backing up data is only the first step. True resilience lies in the ability to recover.
The full article is from Malaysian Updates.
