Each year, March 31 is designated as World Backup Day, which reminds all of us that we need to back up all our personal and business-related documents, photos, videos - anything digital that we value.

Those of us who have lost important files in the past know what a pain it is - and how much valuable time it takes - to recreate them or make new copies, if that indeed is possible. Thinking ahead and taking the time and attention needed to ensure the protection of data valuables is well worth it and doesn't cost that much.

There's really no excuse anymore not to do this: Automated backup into the cloud or to onsite storage is simple to set up and inexpensive. And there are so many vendors willing to bend over backward for your business that you shouldn't have any problem finding one that fits your needs exactly.

With 60 million computers estimated to fail this year, the time is now to fully embrace the meaning behind World Backup Day, a holiday reminding everyone to take control of data backup plans.

Following are some words of advice from professionals who think about backup and data protection all the time.

Kris Schulze, Director of Product Marketing atScale Computing:An annual reminder to back up your data, systems, and applications is no longer sufficient. It's not like swapping new batteries into a smoke alarm once per year; we're all vulnerable. Imagine a cyberattack claiming all of your records on March 30 and only having a backup from a year ago. What if your backup has been compromised? Or lost because the equipment was replaced? World Backup Day should be celebrated 365 days per year.

Betsy Doughty, Vice President of Corporate Marketing at Spectra Logic:The importance of data backup cannot be overstated because the loss of data, whether from cybercrime, natural disaster, or human error, has the potential to devastate an organization. Regular backups are essential to ensure business continuity, and it's smart to adhere to the 3-2-1-1 rule: Make three copies of data, on two different mediums, with one offsite and online, and one offsite and offline. With ransomware proliferating; however, it's also vital for organizations to upgrade their IT toolbox with ransomware-resilient solutions that offer such protection as immutable snapshots, data encryption, multifactor authentication and multi-site replication.

Thomas LaRock, Head Geek, SolarWinds:With increasing ransomware and cyber-attacks, a robust database backup strategy is non-negotiable. World Backup Day serves as an opportunity for business and database leaders to think critically about their organization's backup strategy and ensure they are employing the best practices. Consider where you store your data in the cloud, on-premises, or across other systems - because location can have a major impact on cost and the overall effectiveness of your recovery process.

Anneka Gupta, Chief Product Officer at Rubrik:As we continue to see an alarming rise in cyber attacks targeting organizations worldwide