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Waddington Educational Resources said:
"You can be sure if this becomes more public, hackers will be drawn to Xero to cause trouble."

All the more reason to need a real backup solution. No matter what Xero is already a HUGE target!! Not having a robust backup solution is just putting all of Xero's customers at risk. They know it or they would not have a TOS that states they are not responsible for anything if they ***** up!!

Just look at their implementation of 2FA. It is poor at best. I think that the only reason they did it was because regulators required it. In 2023 not having a robust 2FA and backup solution is negligent at best.

If you are rating the importance of a robust backup solution on a 1-10 scale it is a 15. It is only a matter of time before we get burnt.

They Xero motto seems to be if it does not enhance their marketing they are not going to do it.

in todays climate of hackers etc a backup is essential

10 for sure. I would not have switched had I known about the lack of backup/restore capability and am kicking myself for not querying our advisor more - they assured us Xero had a strong backup regime.

10. non-negotiable

10.

One breach is all It will take.

10

and, like Adrian, looking to switch to alternative providers

10, Hands down.

Already starting to evaluate other options due to this. Decent product otherwise though. Its a shame.

10

I believe this is critical and should be part of Xero, for us I'd say a 10.

10 also

10 for me

Hi, some months back. I mentioned to a XERO staff member, "That when I make changes to report layouts" it doesn't alert me to "Save to Custom". A couple of weeks later, this was brought in. The change reminds me to "Save my Changes" before I leave the screen from memory. It's a bit clunky still but it's better. TBH, it's just something I mentioned to XERO as "worthwhile" but I documented it, and followed through. Another one would be to have a straightforward "Undo" button. Yes that could be "useful" with some of the mis-typing or deletes I do by mistake. ie save me from the need to re-enter some data. I haven't followed through, documented this. For those improvements, on a scale of 1 to 10, 10 the most critical, I would rate them as a two out of 10. I am gathering from the comments here, the need for a backup copy (whether that to be used as a planning tool, when you can't get internet access as one has no access to external tech, as a copy to shove in a safe, to copy to a hard disk, whatever the reason reason) appears to be a much higher need, for me a solid 9 out of 10. Interested in other users rating from 1 (cosmetic change) to 10 (absolute necessity). BB

You can be sure if this becomes more public, hackers will be drawn to Xero to cause trouble.

I wouldn't trust any third party with our data. The more fingers in the pie, the more open you become to future problems. You can't trust any companies these days to as much as keep your email address private. Can you imagine the wealth of information third parties will have holding all your financial data and the consequences of it being compiled and used against you among competitors? Would you like to give a third party access to all your customers so they can supply the list to a competitor? Do I need to say more?

The last time Xero moved in relation to a core fix that I highlighted was when they implemented an in-house solution for two step login verification and not outsourcing it to a third entity like Google, which was something I put in writing to them a couple of years ago, whilst also ccing the owners, CEO and Board. I see this backup problem fair and square in the same realm. Others have posted on Facebook regarding other issues, especially issues which have been around for more than 7 years with no action. It seems to drive users to other solutions rather than drive Xero management to do anything substantial. In addition, did anyone read the email Xero sent out yesterday subtitled, "We're ready to kick-off 2023 with some product updates, small business insights, and more!" but after reading it, you'd be hard pressed to find anything relating to what users have asked for over and over and over again for a decade. Worthless window-dressing as usual.

The more I think about the belligerence, the more incomprehensible it becomes.

They say we should use a third party to back our data. The problem is the last time I looked, there are no third parties that can do a COMPLETE backup of our data including attachments. In addition, I was unable to find anyone to even backup the date for someone like me who is in the US. As I understand things, there are no API's to allow this.

So Xero, if these 3rd party apps exist that will allow the backup and restore of ALL data housed in Xero, how about actually making suggestions. I looked in the 3rd quarter of last year and found none that will backup data in the US.

Short of that, I guess it is time to start looking for a different accounting package and spend Many, Many hours migrating data.

Honestly, if I had known this issue existed when I signed up, I would not have signed up for Xero in the first place. Shame on me for missing that in my due diligence.

Instead of commenting on this closed message board, has anyone commented about this issue on Twitter or Facebook? I have no presence on either one but someone once told me they way to move Xero is to go public with the problem. If it affects their marketing suddenly they decide it is something worth looking into. Just a thought.

Xero has had many opportunities to create a basic script driven tie up of all export related actions into one neat automated daily routine, or better still, scripted so it is actionable according to how often a user requires a full back up. Once that is created, it has to work in reverse so an account clone is auto filled and the previous corrupt or missing account is then replaced by the finished clone which then becomes the user's restored account.

However, Xero are steadfast in their refusal. They've been on notice for years and it will only take one small stuff-up with user data on their part impossible to retrieve from a backup they host, that will cause an almighty unimaginable corporate calamity.

Let's face it, if a user ever has to restore their account by utilizing the current diverse backup procedures, and if it's as simple as Xero seems to suggest, then it should be just as easy to implement an automated script driven solution now rather than wait for a day of catastrophic reckoning.

Automated backups should have been a core feature from day 1. So many other core feature requests logged by users over ten years have all fell on deaf ears but the user subscription fees increased substantially in 2022.

Dear Dermot,

I agree but how unsure are you (read: Xero) of your company and value if you don't facilitate both. Keeping someone tied in because you won't let them backup And export is really saying a lot as well, if you ask me. Making it hard to leave usually only creates unhappy clients.

The thing is, customers aren’t asking for the ability to export data for the purposes of migrating to another service or even for human readable data to work with. We just want the knowledge that we have - under our control - complete snapshots of our organisation that could be restore in order to comply with our obligations to our customers, owners, shareholders and government mandates.

Exactly how I feel Steve. Xero, please come to the party on this. We need to have an option to back up to remain compliant.

Although I'm overall happy with Xero, the inability to backup my data which I'm liable for, renders me increasingly conflicted on what I should do here.

In essence, I'm not able to backup to a position where if Xero lost all my data I could reasonably restore to the satisfaction of a) my own business and b) the requirements of the authorities. In short. I'm non-compliant and have no way of becoming compliant. Xero does not seem to have a defined process for exporting data to meet the minimum legal requirements.

The only way I can become compliant is to change from Xero to another product or purchase a service from a 3rd party. Is this really Xero's position??

This day and age we need to be able to back up data.