The Real Cost of DevOps Backup Scripts

Organizations rely on different methods for data backup, depending on factors such as data criticality. There are several options, ranging from DIY scripts to third-party backup vendors. The effectiveness of these approaches depends on how well they protect data and support timely recovery after an incident.

In DevSecOps, data resilience is key, which puts backup and disaster recovery at the center of any effective security architecture.

Why are Backups Important in DevOps?

Imagine that your critical data (e.g., code repositories, configurations, and deployment pipelines) became corrupted or inaccessible. If your data wasn’t backed up, the consequences could include disrupted operations, missed deadlines, damaged reputations, and financial losses.

Thus, among the reasons to back up your DevOps data, we can name:

• the possibility of eliminating data loss due to ransomware attacks, accidental deletion, etc.;
• the option to ensure business continuity in the event of failures such as service outages or infrastructure downtime;
• the necessity to meet strict security and compliance requirements and legislation, such as SOC 2, ISO 27001, NIS 2, NIST, the EU Cyber Resilience Act, and others;
• the assurance of meeting shared responsibility models under which every service provider operates. To put it simply: a service provider is responsible for its service, infrastructure, and resilience, while the customer is responsible for the security and recoverability of their account data.

Risks That Must Be Considered

Before developing your backup strategy, it is worth analyzing all possible options. But first, let’s look at the numbers:

• the global average cost of a data breach is $4.88M (according to the IBM Cost of a Data Breach Report 2024);
• the average cost of downtime can reach as high as $9K per minute;
• fines for failing to meet security standards may reach up to $14M.

All of this means that a backup strategy should be secure and reliable. Moreover, it should ensure disaster recovery and guarantee fast restoration of critical business operations.

Constant Updates and Human Intervention

The maintenance of backup scripts requires time and effort from DevOps teams and pulls them and their resources away from daily tasks and primary goals. In addition, scripts require manual intervention to fix potential vulnerabilities, adjust setups, complete updates, and generally keep them effective and up to date.

Thus, it is not only the amount of work the team has to manage (which increases over time as data grows), but also the risk of potential data loss caused by human intervention.

Incomplete Backups

One of the key weaknesses of backup scripts is their tendency to create incomplete backups. While core data such as source code and configurations may be captured, scripts often miss critical metadata required for full recovery. For example, issues, pull requests, and collaboration records necessary for understanding project context may be overlooked.

This can put the integrity and usefulness of your backups at risk, making them ineffective for complete recovery operations.

Poor Monitoring

To quickly identify and fix issues with backups — such as whether a copy succeeded or failed — you need proper monitoring mechanisms.

With backup scripts, monitoring rests entirely on your IT team. They must manually check backup copies, perform test restores, and verify integrity. This can take significant time and attention, while also increasing the risk of human error. As a result, if a backup is incomplete or corrupted, it may limit or prevent successful restoration.

Compliance Risks

Depending on the industry and region in which your company operates, you may need to meet strict compliance requirements. Many of these require organizations to have backup, disaster recovery, or resilience mechanisms in place.

For example, the EU Cyber Resilience Act (CRA), which applies to digital organizations operating in the European Union, states:

“On the basis of the cybersecurity risk assessment referred to in Article 13(2) and where applicable, products with digital elements shall:
[…]
(k) be designed, developed and produced to reduce the impact of an incident using appropriate exploitation mitigation mechanisms and techniques;
[…]
(h) protect the availability of essential and basic functions, also after an incident, including through resilience and mitigation measures against denial-of-service attacks;”

Source: CRA Annexes

This requirement for “availability after an incident” implies assurance that critical data and business operations can be restored quickly. Unfortunately, backup scripts may introduce high operational risk at scale. Additionally, writing recovery scripts reactively during an incident can leave an organization vulnerable to data loss or prolonged downtime.

Actual Cost of Backup Scripts

On average, DevOps may spend 250+ hours a year on backup processes. Then, you need a DevOps engineer, whose average salary is (depending on experience, role, industry etc.) $65 per hour, in the USA. So, this would equal to over $15K a year for backup… And let’s not forget, on top of this, your team is spending time on backup instead of their core duties.

Thus, your DIY backup solution might cost the aforementioned $15K, along with backup maintenance, required manhours plus all potential downtime-related costs.  These indirect costs are difficult to quantify upfront but often grow as environments scale.

This does not mean that backup scripts cannot be a reasonable choice for smaller or narrowly scoped environments, especially when data structures are simple and recovery requirements are limited. In such cases, internally maintained scripts may provide sufficient coverage with minimal overhead. However, as DevOps platforms evolve and metadata, integrations, and compliance requirements expand, maintaining consistent and reliable coverage through scripts alone becomes increasingly complex.

Are There Any Alternatives to Backup Scripts?

While backup scripts are a popular choice in DevOps, they are by no means the only option. Let’s explore some common alternatives and their limitations.

Git Clone

Developers can use the git clone command to copy a repository from one location to another. While it can serve as a temporary solution, it does not cover all data and should not be considered a true backup.

Limitations

Although git clone replicates the code repository, it does not capture important metadata and configurations such as issues, pull requests, repository settings, webhooks, access controls, or collaboration records like code review comments. Without these components, backups lose context and may significantly delay or disrupt recovery efforts.

Additionally, git clone requires manual execution, making it unsuitable for regular, automated backups. DevOps teams must remember to run the command consistently, increasing the risk of human error, oversight, and data loss.

Third-Party Tools

Third-party backup vendors offer data protection solutions that exceed the capabilities of backup scripts. These tools help organizations ensure data integrity and availability, along with fast recovery in the event of failure.

Advantages of Third-Party Backup Solutions

Third-party backup solutions automate processes and eliminate the need for manual intervention. As a result, DevOps teams can focus on primary responsibilities rather than maintaining or scheduling scripts. Automation also reduces the risk of human error while ensuring data integrity, availability, and recoverability.

Flexible restore and disaster recovery capabilities are typically included. A solid DR strategy is essential to restore data quickly after an incident. Ensure that your backup and DR solution supports:

• granular restores of selected data;
• point-in-time restores;
• cross-platform restores (e.g., migrating to another Git hosting service during outages);
• full data restores.

Monitoring backup performance is also essential to reduce vulnerabilities during backup operations.

Overall, backup software helps ensure comprehensive DevOps data protection and recoverability, reduces operational burden on IT teams, and enables them to focus on strategic tasks. Additionally, third-party tools help organizations meet strict compliance requirements by aligning backup, disaster recovery, and resilience practices with established security best practices.