Cloud backup and disaster recovery services protect business data and systems so they can be restored after accidental deletion, hardware failure, cyberattack, ransomware, outage or a wider disaster.
The two services are related but not identical.
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Cloud backup copies business data into a separate cloud environment and depending on the service, it can protect:
The backup provider normally automates the process according to an agreed schedule.
The right frequency depends on how much recent data the business could afford to lose.
Disaster recovery is the process of restoring business-critical systems after a serious disruption, and possible incidents include:
A disaster recovery service can replicate entire workloads into a secondary environment – if the main environment fails, the provider can recover or fail over systems to the alternative location.
Backup as a Service, or BaaS, means outsourcing backup infrastructure and management to a provider – so, instead of maintaining your own:
the provider delivers the backup service for you.
This can be useful for businesses without dedicated backup specialists internally.
Disaster Recovery as a Service, or DRaaS, provides managed recovery infrastructure using cloud or hosted platforms, so a DRaaS service can replicate:
into another environment.
If the original infrastructure becomes unavailable, workloads can be recovered at the secondary location, so DRaaS can reduce the need to maintain a completely separate physical disaster recovery site.
user
device
server
virtual machine
workload
terabyte
storage consumed
data protected
service tier
Current UK procurement listings demonstrate how wide the market is, so some examples include:
SaaS backup at around £2.50 per user
managed backup services at around £25-£75 per device per month
DRaaS starting from roughly £10.25 per virtual machine per month
managed cloud backup/DR services priced from around £795 per terabyte per year , with advanced services considerably higher
These are individual supplier examples rather than universal market prices – as a practical budgeting guide:
Service Typical starting guide
SaaS/Microsoft 365 backup
£2-£10+/user/month
Endpoint/laptop backup
£5-£25+/device/month
Managed business backup
£20-£75+/device/month
Small server backup
£20-£100+/server/month
VM backup
£10-£100+/VM/month
Managed cloud backup
£50-£500+/month
DRaaS for small environment
£100-£500+/month
Multi-server DRaaS
£500-£3,000+/month
Enterprise DRaaS
Bespoke
How much does disaster recovery cost? Disaster recovery is usually more expensive than standard backup because the provider may need to maintain:
replicated systems
secondary storage
network configuration
recovery infrastructure
standby compute
failover tooling
monitoring
support
recovery runbooks
regular tests
What affects cloud backup costs?
Amount of data
Backup frequency
Retention
Number of devices
Recovery speed
Data location
Security
What is RPO? RPO means Recovery Point Objective .
It answers:
How much recent data could your business afford to lose?
Imagine a database fails at 3pm.
If the last backup ran at midnight, you could potentially lose 15 hours of work.
That produces an RPO of up to:
15 hours
If the system backs up every 15 minutes, the potential data loss is much smaller.
Typical requirements could be:
System Example RPO
Archived documents
24 hours
Shared files
4 hours
CRM
1 hour
Ecommerce database
15 minutes
Critical financial system
Minutes
What is RTO? RTO means Recovery Time Objective .
It answers: How long can the business survive without the system?
For example:
A company website might tolerate:
four hours
A customer payment system might tolerate:
15 minutes
An archived file server might tolerate:
one day
Example:
Workload Example RTO
Archive server
24 hours
Shared files
8 hours
CRM
4 hours
Email
2 hours
Ecommerce
30 minutes
Critical operational platform
Minutes
RPO vs RTO These terms are easy to mix up.
RPO = how much data can you lose? RTO = how long can you be offline?
For example:
RPO: 15 minutes
means you want to lose no more than 15 minutes of recent data.
RTO: 1 hour
means the service should be available again within one hour.
How often should business data be backed up? There is no universal schedule – you should consider how much work you could afford to recreate.
Data type Possible backup frequency
Archive
Daily
Shared documents
Every few hours
Email
Several times daily/continuous service
CRM
Hourly or more frequently
Ecommerce
Minutes/continuous
Financial system
Frequent/transaction-aware
Critical database
Continuous replication
How long should backups be retained? Retention depends on:
operational requirements
customer contracts
industry rules
legal requirements
ransomware recovery
historic data requirements
so you might retain:
daily backups for 30 days
weekly backups for 12 weeks
monthly backups for one year
annual archives for longer
Do not keep everything forever simply because storage appears cheap.
Long retention increases:
storage cost
data-management complexity
legal exposure
security burden
Questions to ask cloud backup providers Ask:
What data can you protect?
Which platforms do you support?
How is pricing calculated?
Is storage included?
Is backup managed?
Who monitors failures?
How often is data backed up?
How long is it retained?
Is the backup immutable?
Where is data stored?
Is UK storage available?
Is data encrypted?
Is MFA used for administrators?
Can we restore one file?
Can we restore a mailbox?
Can we restore an entire server?
How long will restoration take?
Are restores tested?
Is testing included?
What happens after ransomware?
Is 24/7 support available?
What costs extra?
How do we retrieve our data if we leave?
Cloud backup vs on-premises backup
Cloud backup On-premises backup
Off-site by design
Often stored locally
Scalable
Hardware capacity required
Monthly cost
Upfront hardware cost
Accessible remotely
Local infrastructure
Provider can manage
Internal management
Internet-dependent
Fast local recovery possible
Good geographic separation
Can provide very fast restores
Final verdict Every business needs to be able to answer one basic question:
If our important data disappeared today, could we get it back?
Businesses with critical systems need to answer a second:
How quickly could we start operating again?
Cloud backup addresses the first problem.
Disaster recovery addresses the second.
For many small and medium-sized UK businesses, the right starting point is:
automated cloud backup
separate recovery copies
sensible retention
immutable protection
monitoring
regular restore tests
Critical applications may additionally need:
replication
DRaaS
secondary cloud infrastructure
defined RPO
defined RTO
24/7 recovery support
Current pricing ranges enormously because a £2-£10 per-user SaaS backup service and a replicated disaster recovery platform are solving completely different problems, so compare providers based on:
what is protected
backup frequency
retention
ransomware resilience
data location
RPO
RTO
testing
support
recovery process
total cost
Do not buy backup simply to tick a box.
The service only matters if it can recover the business when something actually goes wrong.
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FAQs: cloud backup and disaster recovery What is cloud backup?
Cloud backup creates copies of business data and stores them in a cloud environment so they can be restored after deletion, corruption, hardware failure, cyberattack or another incident.
What is disaster recovery?
Disaster recovery is the process of restoring business systems and infrastructure after an outage or disaster.
What is the difference between backup and disaster recovery?
Backup protects data. Disaster recovery focuses on getting entire systems and services operating again.
What is Backup as a Service?
Backup as a Service, or BaaS, is an outsourced service where a provider supplies and manages cloud backup infrastructure.
What is Disaster Recovery as a Service?
DRaaS replicates or protects workloads in a secondary environment so they can be recovered after a serious outage.
How much does cloud backup cost?
Simple SaaS backup may cost only a few pounds per user each month. More comprehensive managed backup can cost £20-£75+ per protected device or workload each month, depending on storage, retention and support.
How much does DRaaS cost?
Small DRaaS environments may cost hundreds of pounds per month, while large multi-server or enterprise disaster recovery environments can cost thousands per month.
What is RPO?
Recovery Point Objective is the maximum amount of recent data the business is prepared to lose.
What is RTO?
Recovery Time Objective is how quickly the business needs a system to be operational again.
Which is more important, RPO or RTO?
Both matter. RPO determines acceptable data loss, while RTO determines acceptable downtime.
What is immutable backup?
Immutable backup is protected from being modified or deleted for a defined period, providing additional protection against ransomware and malicious deletion.
Does Microsoft 365 need backup?
Microsoft 365 provides native recovery and retention features, but some businesses choose separate backup for additional retention, independent recovery and ransomware protection.
Can Microsoft Teams be backed up?
Many Microsoft 365 backup platforms protect data associated with Teams, although coverage varies. Check exactly what the supplier protects.
Can SharePoint be backed up?
Yes. Third-party Microsoft 365 backup services can protect SharePoint data and provide granular restore options.
Can OneDrive be backed up?
Yes. OneDrive can be protected by Microsoft 365 backup services.
Does Azure include backup?
Microsoft provides Azure Backup and Azure Site Recovery services, which are charged according to the resources protected and consumed.
Does AWS include backup?
AWS provides AWS Backup, which charges based on storage, data transfer, restores and other resources consumed.
Does cloud backup protect against ransomware?
It can help significantly, particularly where backups are isolated and immutable, but backup should form part of a wider cybersecurity strategy.
Should backups be stored off-site?
For important business data, keeping recovery copies separate from the main production environment reduces the risk that one incident destroys everything.
How often should businesses test backups?
Testing frequency depends on risk, but critical systems should be tested regularly. Annual testing may be insufficient for rapidly changing or business-critical environments.
What happens if a cloud backup fails?
A managed backup provider should detect the failed job, investigate it and restore protection rather than simply sending an automated warning.
How long does restoring cloud backup take?
Anything from minutes for a single file to many hours or days for large servers. Agree an RTO with the provider for important systems.
Can disaster recovery be tested without affecting live systems?
Many modern DR platforms support test failovers or isolated recovery environments so businesses can validate recovery without taking production services offline.
Is replication the same as backup?
No. Replication improves availability but may also copy deletion, corruption or ransomware. Many businesses therefore combine replication with separate backups.
How do I choose a cloud backup provider?
Compare protection coverage, retention, security, immutability, RPO, RTO, restore testing, support, data location and total monthly cost.
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Hi, I’m Ally Cox , a senior copywriter and blogger at CompareYourBusinessCosts.co.uk, the UK’s trusted platform for comparing business services.over a decade of experience in the B2B sector, I specialise in simplifying complex topics like leased lines, VoIP, business energy, HR and payroll solutions, accounting software, and EPOS systems .HR, copywriting, and business operations- from clocking-in systems to card machines and office technology .informed, confident decisions when choosing products and services that improve efficiency and save money.
