Define and document how your business protects critical data.
Download our structured Backup Policy template to help your organisation create, store, and manage secure backups of essential software and information assets.
What Is a Backup Policy and Why Does It Matter?
A Backup Policy is a formal document that outlines how an organisation protects its business-critical data by creating and maintaining secure, recoverable backups. It’s a key component of both your Information Security Management System (ISMS) and your business continuity framework.
Typically, a policy will define:
- What types of data must be backed up (e.g. applications, file servers, databases)
- How often backups should occur (daily, weekly, incremental, full)
- Where backups are stored (cloud, on-premises, hybrid, air-gapped)
- Who is responsible for executing and testing the backups
- How restoration processes are managed and verified
A structured Backup Policy helps to reduce risk from cyber attacks, hardware failure, accidental deletion, and ransomware events, and it supports compliance with standards such as ISO 9001, ISO 22301, and ISO 27001.
How Activ Supports ISO-Aligned Backup Governance
Activ’s Backup Policy template helps you define and document backup practices that align with expectations under ISO certification audits:
- ISO 9001: Quality Management Systems
Ensuring that information remains accessible and accurate contributes to product and service consistency. - ISO 22301: Business Continuity Management
Backups are a critical element of continuity planning. This policy template supports documented recovery procedures and data resilience protocols. - ISO 27001: Information Security Management
Activ enables clear documentation of data backup controls – one of the required technical safeguards for protecting confidentiality, availability, and integrity.
By starting with a policy template built to reflect best-practice structures, you avoid gaps in documentation and reduce your time to audit readiness.
Why It’s More Than a Checklist
According to the UK’s Cyber Security Breaches Survey 2025:
43% of businesses and 30% of charities experienced a cyber incident in the past year – rising to 74% among large organisations. Many lacked tested backup and recovery procedures, leading to extended downtime and potential data loss. (Source – gov.uk)
A Backup Policy acts as an enforceable control that helps you:
- Establish consistent technical and organisational safeguards
- Demonstrate preparedness in ISO audits and client assessments
- Build a recoverable environment aligned to GDPR, contractual, and operational obligations
Our template provides the structure to formalise your policy, whether you’re starting from scratch or updating an existing process.
Get Started Today
Fill out the short form at the top of this page to download our Backup Policy template today.
