SOP-009  ·  Rev 1.0
[DATA BACKUP SOP]

A backup that has never been restored is a hope, not a plan. This template turns backup into a scheduled task with an owner, a fixed scope, and a recovery test that proves the restore works. It is written for small businesses that cannot afford a dedicated IT function but still hold data they could not rebuild. The worked example covers a small office's files, mail and bookkeeping. The rule that separates a backup from an archive is the test: if you have not restored from it, you do not yet know you have a backup.

1.  PURPOSE
    > Note — One sentence on why this procedure exists.
    [PURPOSE]

2.  SCOPE
    > Note — What data is backed up and what is not.
    [SCOPE]

3.  SCHEDULE
    > Note — What is backed up, how often, and by whom.
    [SCHEDULE]

4.  BACKUP
    > Note — The steps to run a backup.
    [BACKUP_1]
    [BACKUP_2]
    [BACKUP_3]

5.  RESTORE TEST
    > Note — The proof that recovery works.
    [TEST]

6.  FAILURE
    > Note — What to do when a backup fails.
    [FAILURE]

Free to use in your own documents, including commercially.

Worked example

1

Purpose

Note — One sentence on why this procedure exists.

Change bar — replace this

To keep the office's files, mail and bookkeeping backed up on a fixed schedule, and to prove at least quarterly that a restore works.

2

Scope

Note — What data is backed up and what is not.

Change bar — replace this

The shared drive, the mail account, and the bookkeeping file. The website is hosted externally and is not part of this backup.

3

Schedule

Note — What is backed up, how often, and by whom.

Change bar — replace this

Shared drive and bookkeeping — nightly, automated, to the offsite backup service. Mail — continuous via the provider's own backup. Restore test — quarterly, owner.

4

Backup

Note — The steps to run a backup.

Change bar — replace this

Confirm the backup service logged in and the destination has space.

Change bar — replace this

Run the nightly backup; confirm the log shows it completed with no errors.

Change bar — replace this

Spot-check that yesterday's files appear in the backup destination.

5

Restore test

Note — The proof that recovery works.

Change bar — replace this

Quarterly, the owner restores one folder to a test location and confirms the files open. A backup that cannot be restored is not a backup.

6

Failure

Note — What to do when a backup fails.

Change bar — replace this

If a backup fails, tell the owner the same day, do not assume the next run will fix it, and re-run it after correcting the cause.

A

The Document Control Kit

Turn a folder of documents into something a team can actually find and follow

Every template on this site is free and stays free. The kit is what turns a folder of documents into a system you can actually run: a register with numbers, owners and review dates; who reviews what and how often; a numbering scheme that still works at fifty documents; and the thirty-day sequence for getting a team to use any of it, which is where most of these projects die.

What the kit holds

Register Column headings — number, title, owner, revision, approval date, review-due date

Review cadence Who reviews what, how often, and what triggers an off-cycle revision

Rollout plan The thirty-day sequence for getting a team to actually use the documents

Numbering scheme How to number documents so the system survives its first fifty

Open the control kit FREE · NO ACCOUNT · NO CARD · NOTHING SENT ANYWHERE

Opens a short sponsor step, then brings you straight back to this page with the kit open. Nothing you have entered goes with you.