And how Bluechip Infotech New Zealand helps answer them.
In today’s rapidly changing digital landscape, New Zealand IT resellers face rising cyber risks, evolving privacy regulations, and increasing operational pressures. As cyberattacks escalate across Aotearoa, the need for reliable data backup and recovery has never been more urgent. Recent figures show 7,122 cybersecurity incidents were recorded nationally in the year to June 2024, highlighting just how critical robust backup systems have become for Kiwi organisations.
At Bluechip Infotech New Zealand, we work closely with partners and customers to strengthen business resilience with secure, compliant, modern backup solutions. Below, we explore the top five questions NZ business owners are asking and what the latest research tells us.
1. “How can we protect our business from ransomware and cyberattacks?”
Ransomware remains one of the biggest threats to IT resellers. A 2025 cyber security report found 59% of New Zealand businesses experienced a cyber incident within 12 months, with attackers increasingly targeting not only production systems but also backup environments. (Reference: NZ Business Cyber Security Report 2025)
Additionally, NZ organisations continue to face operational disruptions due to data breaches, human error, and hardware failures, reinforcing the need for fully tested backup systems. (Reference: Project IT Ultimate Guide to Data Backup for New Zealand Businesses)
What this means for New Zealand IT resellers:
Off-site, immutable backups are becoming essential.
Regular restoration testing ensures you can recover quickly.
Zero-trust and modern endpoint security must extend to backup data.
2. “Is it safe for New Zealand end users to have data in Australia?”
Data sovereignty is increasingly important as privacy expectations rise under the Privacy Act 2020, which requires businesses to handle and store personal information with strict safeguards. (Reference: Project IT Ultimate Guide to Data Backup for NZ Businesses)
Storing New Zealand user data in Australia can be safe, provided businesses meet the cross-border requirements of the New Zealand Privacy Act 2020. Under the Act, organisations must ensure that any overseas entity storing New Zealanders’ personal information provides comparable safeguards to those required in New Zealand. Recent regulatory guidance also highlights that New Zealand companies operating across borders must remain vigilant, especially as Australian privacy regulations grow stricter and may impose additional obligations.
When data is stored in Australia, it often benefits from strong security frameworks. For example, some backup and cloud protection providers store data in Australia by default unless customers request otherwise, and their infrastructure is certified to standards such as ISO27001 and PCI-DSS, with encryption in transit and AES encryption at rest. These measures help ensure a high level of protection for end-user data.
Many New Zealand providers now offer local cloud storage options. For example, one managed service provider emphasises that storing backups within New Zealand on independent, air-gapped infrastructure helps businesses meet both compliance and cyber-insurance requirements. (Reference: Managed Backup Solutions)
What this means for New Zealand IT resellers:
Data stored in Australia can be safe if the provider meets NZ privacy requirements.
Providers using Australian data centres with strong compliance certifications and encryption offer robust protection.
New Zealand organisations must ensure cross-border agreements or contractual clauses confirm that Australian providers offer protections comparable to the NZ Privacy Act 2020.
Businesses should verify that providers support customer-controlled region selection, allowing data to remain in New Zealand if required.
Locally hosted cloud backups enhance compliance with NZ privacy law.
Air gapped or offline copies reduce the risk of ransomware impact.
Hybrid models (local + cloud) offer maximum resilience.
3. “How long will it take to recover our systems after a disaster?”
Unexpected downtime from cyberattacks to natural disasters. Can significantly damage productivity, customer trust, and revenue. Research shows many organisations struggle to meet their own recovery objectives, with only about half achieving their Recovery Time Objectives (RTOs) during real incidents.
In NZ, operational disruptions caused by data loss commonly led to missed deadlines and customer dissatisfaction. (Reference: Project IT Ultimate Guide to Data Backup for New Zealand Businesses)
What this means for New Zealand IT resellers:
Rapid recovery requires automated, monitored backup systems.
Clear RTOs and RPOs (Recovery Point Objectives) are critical.
Regular testing ensures systems perform correctly during a crisis.
4. “How often should we back up and how do we know it’s working?”
A backup that hasn’t been tested is a backup you can’t rely on. Across New Zealand businesses, human error remains a leading cause of data loss, reinforcing the importance of automated systems. (Reference: CodeBlue Data Backup & Recovery)
Industry guidance for Kiwi businesses emphasises the importance of routine restoration testing and automated schedules to eliminate manual risk. (Reference: Backup Strategy Best Practices)
What this means for New Zealand IT resellers:
Daily automated backups for mission critical data are best practice.
Backups must be monitored and validated for integrity.
Regular full and partial restore tests provide assurance.
5. “Should your backup provider back up SaaS applications?”
Yes, your backup provider should back up SaaS applications, and this is now considered essential for New Zealand businesses. Many organisations mistakenly assume SaaS platforms like Microsoft 365, Google Workspace, Xero, or Salesforce automatically protect their data. Nearly all SaaS vendors operate under a shared responsibility model, meaning the provider manages uptime and infrastructure, but the customer is responsible for protecting and backing up their own data. (References: Never Lose Microsoft Data Again – SaaS Backup for Microsoft 365 and 6 Reasons why SaaS Backup Is Essential for Microsoft 365 Data Protection)
This misconception is risky: over 40% of SaaS users have experienced data loss, and roughly 70% of employees have accidentally deleted work data, making SaaS backups critical for preventing permanent loss. Data can also be lost through ransomware, malicious insiders, sync conflicts, software bugs, or limited retention windows. For example, Microsoft 365 typically only retains deleted items for 30–93 days, after which the data is permanently erased. (Reference: Never Lose Microsoft Data Again – SaaS Backup for Microsoft 365 and 6 Securing and managing devices in the modern workplace)
Why SaaS backup must be included in your provider’s offering:
Accidental & malicious deletion protection – SaaS platforms will not restore most user-deleted or tampered items. (Ref: Why SaaS Backup Matters)
Ransomware resilience – SaaS accounts are increasingly targeted by attackers; independent backups allow clean recovery. (Ref: Microsoft 365 Backup)
Compliance & legal retention – Many NZ organisations must retain emails, documents, and audit trails long term; SaaS backups ensure regulatory alignment. (Ref: 6 reasons why SaaS Backup)
Business continuity – Independent SaaS backups ensure rapid recovery and minimise downtime, rather than relying on limited built-in retention. (Ref: Microsoft 365 Backup)
Vendor outages & service failures – Even major SaaS platforms experience sync failures and outages that can cause data corruption or loss. (Ref: Your Ultimate Guide to SaaS Backup)
In short, yes, a complete IT backup solution must include SaaS data protection, and your provider should explicitly offer backups for platforms such as Microsoft 365, Google Workspace, and other cloud-based applications. This ensures your business remains resilient, compliant, and protected from one of the most common sources of modern data loss.
Why must New Zealand companies prioritise backup?
With cybercrime rising, privacy regulation tightening, and digital infrastructure more critical than ever, Kiwi IT resellers must adopt modern, resilient backup strategies. Recent data shows New Zealand organisations continue to face significant cyber threats, operational disruptions, and compliance pressures, making dependable backup and recovery an essential part of business continuity. (Reference: Never Lose Microsoft Data Again – SaaS Backup for Microsoft 365)
As New Zealand’s technology landscape evolves, so do the expectations of customers, insurers, and regulatory bodies. Modern backup solutions help IT resellers stay compliant, minimise risk, and ensure uninterrupted operations even during cyber incidents or system failures.
A simple analogy: Backup is like comprehensive car insurance
Think of backup the same way you think about third party or comprehensive car insurance. You don’t buy car insurance because you plan to crash your car. In fact, you’d never deliberately drive your vehicle into a wall just because your insurer will cover it. The insurance is there to protect you from the unexpected, giving you confidence that if something goes wrong, you’re not left stranded.
Backup works the same way. You wouldn’t intentionally delete your own business data simply because you have backup protection. Instead, the backup exists to safeguard you when accidents do happen. Whether through human error, a cyberattack, a system failure, or a natural disaster. It’s a safety net, not an invitation to be careless.
Just as insurance provides financial resilience, backups provide operational resilience, ensuring your organisation can recover quickly and avoid costly downtime when things go wrong.
Bluechip Infotech New Zealand supports IT resellers with a comprehensive range of vendor solutions. From cloud backup platforms to full disaster recovery systems, ensuring organisations remain secure, compliant, and resilient in a world of increasing digital threats.
If you’d like a tailored backup assessment, get in touch with our sales team or your Bluechip Account Manager. We’re here to help keep your business protected.
Frequently Asked Questions:
1. Why are IT backups so important for New Zealand IT resellers?
New Zealand IT resellers face rising cyber risks, with 7,122 cybersecurity incidents recorded in the year to June 2024, making data protection a critical priority across the country. Backups provide essential protection from cyberattacks, natural disasters, hardware failure, and human error. All of which are common causes of data loss for Kiwi organisations.
2. How often should a business back up its data?
Industry best practice is to automate backups daily for mission-critical workloads, reducing the chance of human error. Regular restore testing is essential to confirm that backups actually work, a key recommendation for New Zealand IT resellers.
3. Do New Zealand IT resellers need to store their backups locally, or can they use offshore cloud storage?
Both are viable, but storing backups within New Zealand can improve compliance and support cyber insurance requirements. Some New Zealand providers maintain air-gapped local infrastructure, offering enhanced protection from ransomware.
4. How quickly can New Zealand businesses recover after a cyberattack or outage?
Many organisations struggle to meet recovery expectations, with research showing only about half achieve their RTOs (Recovery Time Objectives). Choosing automated, tested solutions significantly improves recovery speed and minimises downtime.
5. What backup threats are unique to New Zealand?
Kiwi businesses face additional risks from natural disasters such as earthquakes and floods. Cloud-based off-site backups provide geographic redundancy and protect data even if a local office or server is affected.
6. How does the Privacy Act 2020 affect backup requirements?
The Privacy Act 2020 requires businesses to implement reasonable safeguards to prevent loss, misuse, and unauthorised disclosure of personal information. This includes ensuring backups are secure, encrypted, and stored in compliant environments.
7. Can ransomware affect backups?
Yes. Attackers increasingly attempt to compromise backups alongside production systems, making immutable copies and offline storage essential. New Zealand reports highlight that backups are frequently targeted in modern attacks.