Technology decision-makers and managers in Switzerland must comply simultaneously with the EU’s GDPR for cross-border data exchanges and with the Swiss Federal Act on Data Protection (nLPD, formerly LPD) for local processing. The GDPR governs the collection, use and retention of personal data of EU citizens, while the nLPD defines rights and obligations on Swiss soil. Mastering both frameworks helps you anticipate legal and operational risks and build a robust, future-proof data governance model that can adapt as these regulations evolve.

Understanding Your Legal Obligations under GDPR and nLPD

You need to define precisely which processing activities fall under each regulation to avoid heavy fines.

For a Swiss IT manager, it’s not just about ticking legal boxes: misinterpreting the scope can expose your company to substantial penalties and erode trust with customers and partners. From day one, clarify who is affected, which data is processed, and under what conditions to establish a solid and scalable compliance framework.

Scope of the GDPR in Switzerland

The GDPR applies to Swiss companies when they:

• Offer goods or services to EU residents
• Monitor their behavior (e.g., via cookies, analytics tools or profiling)

Examples include:

• A Swiss e-commerce site receiving visitors from France
• A web form filled out by a prospect in Germany

Non-compliance can lead to fines up to €20 million or 4 % of global annual turnover—and seriously damage your reputation with European customers.

Key Features of the nLPD

The revised Swiss Data Protection Act (nLPD), in force since September 2023, strengthens individual rights in Switzerland and aligns certain requirements with the GDPR, but with notable differences:

• Data-breach notification: Report to the Federal Data Protection and Information Commissioner (FDPIC) “as soon as possible,” without the GDPR’s strict 72-hour deadline.
• Fines: Up to CHF 250 000—significantly lower than GDPR penalties.
• International transfers: More flexible, provided “appropriate safeguards” are in place.
• Legal basis: In some cases, processing may rely on “legitimate interest” without requiring explicit consent, unlike the GDPR.

The Business Case for Compliance

Beyond legal obligation, solid data governance boosts efficiency and competitiveness:

• Process optimization
• Fewer incidents
• Better data value

A PwC study found that 85 % of customers prefer companies guaranteeing personal-data security—an advantage for customer retention and partnerships.

Compliance also builds flexibility to adapt rapidly to future legal changes in a tightening regulatory environment. Moreover, exemplary governance opens doors to new markets with strict compliance requirements and strengthens credibility with investors and stakeholders.

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Map and Diagnose Your Data Flows

Data-processing mapping is the cornerstone of governance and compliance management. Without a comprehensive overview, IT and business leaders cannot prioritize actions, assess risks correctly, or respond to data-subject requests on time.

Inventory Your Data Sources

Start by listing all data sources:

• On-premises servers
• SaaS applications
• CRM databases
• Mobile apps

For each entry, note the type and sensitivity of data, volume and location. This highlights critical points—e.g., log files stored outside the EU.

Implement a Centralized Repository

A single repository storing metadata, data-processing owners, purposes and retention periods streamlines data management, reduces human error, enhances GDPR compliance and speeds up audit responses.

Example: For a pharmaceutical lab, implementing such a tool cut response time to data-access requests by 40 % and reduced the annual data-update cycle from two weeks to two days.

Our approach:

1. Analyze and map your current data landscape
2. Design a data model tailored to your organization
3. Deploy a centralized tool connected to key information sources
4. Assign simple, owner-driven update processes

This accelerates central governance and improves data reliability.

Diagnose Vulnerabilities

Identify all weak points in your system to protect personal data:

• Outdated applications
• Undocumented manual processes
• Data transfers outside the EU without adequate safeguards

For each vulnerability, assess potential impact and likelihood. Use a risk matrix to visualize and prioritize—focus on high-risk items (e.g., securing a payment API) before less critical tasks.

Establish Compliance Processes and Policies

Clear, documented processes are essential to meet GDPR/nLPD requirements and secure your data operations. Formalizing roles, workflows and controls ensures demonstrable compliance and swift incident response.

8-Step Operational Roadmap

1. Team awareness and objective setting
2. Comprehensive audit of processing activities and flows
3. Appointment of a Data Protection Officer (DPO) where required
4. Security measures (encryption, access controls)
5. Drafting and publishing internal policies
6. Ongoing staff training
7. Management and tracking of data-subject requests
8. Continuous monitoring and incident alerts

Formalize Responsibilities

Define and document roles—DPO, business-unit liaisons, IT teams—in an up-to-date org chart to maintain clear decision and processing chains.

Maintain a Living Processing Register

Keep your register up to date: every new project or scope change must be recorded immediately with legal basis, retention period and data flows.

Automate Data-Subject Rights Workflows

Automate the full lifecycle of access requests: receipt, identity verification, data extraction, secure delivery and closure. Automation ensures legal timeframes are met and provides full audit trails.

Third-Party and Vendor Controls

Use an evaluation framework for subcontractors and incorporate standard contractual clauses (SCC) for the GDPR. Review these assessments at least annually to ensure partner compliance and reduce legal and operational risks.

Monitor, Audit and Continuously Improve

Long-term compliance requires KPI-driven management and regular audits. Turn governance into an agile, measurable process to gain a competitive edge.

Define and Track Your KPIs

• Percentage of requests handled on time
• Number of security incidents
• Proportion of documented processing activities
• Average time to update the register
• Number of vulnerabilities remediated

Operational Dashboard

Consolidate KPIs into a real-time portal (Power BI, Grafana, etc.). For one mid-sized client, our dashboard reduced audit discrepancies by 25 % and accelerated request processing by 40 %.

Audits and Feedback Loops

Schedule an annual external audit and quarterly internal reviews. Integrate team feedback and regulatory updates into a continuous improvement plan to avoid reactive compliance.

Foster a Privacy-First Culture

Promote transparency and accountability through internal newsletters, workshops and incident debriefs. Engaged teams contribute more effectively to a strong privacy posture.

Build Your GDPR & nLPD Governance

You now have a comprehensive action plan: understand your obligations, map your data flows, formalize policies, manage with KPIs and cultivate a privacy culture. This approach secures your IT system, reassures stakeholders and delivers lasting competitive advantage.

If you need expert support to implement a compliant, secure and scalable digital ecosystem, contact Edana to discuss your challenges.

Discuss about your challenges with an Edana expert

For decision‑makers and technology leaders, a 3‑2‑1 backup means keeping three copies of your data on two different media, with one copy off‑site. A Disaster Recovery Plan (DRP) defines the procedures and responsibilities to restore your service after an incident. Together, these two pillars ensure business continuity and minimize the risk of prolonged downtime.

The 3‑2‑1 principles combined with a DRP form an essential duo for any organization committed to resilience and maximized ROI in security and availability.

1. Core Principles of 3‑2‑1 Backup and Disaster Recovery

Summary: The 3‑2‑1 rule secures your data; the DRP prepares you to restore it.

A 3‑2‑1 backup strategy relies on three distinct copies of your data: the primary production copy, a second local backup (NAS, hard drive), and a third off‑site copy (cloud or managed service). This setup limits single points of failure and reduces the chance of total data loss in the event of a physical disaster or cyberattack. Adopting this approach requires carefully assessing your Recovery Time Objective (RTO) and Recovery Point Objective (RPO) to select the right open‑source technologies and avoid vendor lock‑in.

Disaster recovery, or your DRP, complements the 3‑2‑1 backup. While backups guarantee data integrity, the DRP formalizes the steps to reinstate your critical services. It specifies roles, failover processes, and standby environments. It’s best to adopt a flexible plan—there is no one‑size‑fits‑all solution—that aligns with your business context and leverages existing components, whether banking systems, e‑commerce platforms, or ERP.

To stay agile, Edana’s approach combines bespoke development with proven open‑source components (Node.js, Linux, PostgreSQL…). This mix minimizes technical debt and optimizes costs while ensuring scalability and security. Every environment is unique, which is why we architect your ecosystem with a flexible methodology focused on digital transformation and, when relevant, eco‑responsibility.

2. Building a Tailored Disaster Recovery Plan for Your Organization

Summary: A custom DRP guides restoration and ensures business continuity.

An effective DRP begins with an audit of your business processes and critical scopes. This involves identifying strategic applications, their dependencies, and required service levels. In collaboration with your ops, security, and IT teams, our experts design a recovery plan that combines standby environments, automated failover procedures, and regular testing. The goal is to minimize downtime (RTO) and acceptable data loss (RPO).

Every context has its own requirements, so we customize each DRP accordingly. For example, for a Swiss bank, we built a managed standby platform with encrypted backups via Infomaniak and TypeScript automation scripts that handle failover in under five minutes. We then established quarterly test cycles to validate full service restoration and fine‑tune procedures based on feedback. This pragmatic approach not only significantly reduced RTO but also boosted operational teams’ confidence in their infrastructure’s resilience.

At Edana, we favor an iterative process: deploy a minimum viable recovery framework first, then enhance the DRP based on real‑world tests. This semi‑custom methodology keeps technical debt in check and integrates seamlessly with your development cycles, whether agile or waterfall. You achieve controlled recovery aligned with your business goals and budget.

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3. Selecting Open‑Source Technologies for Your Backup Strategy

Summary: Open source cuts costs and prevents vendor lock‑in.

When it comes to backup strategy, open‑source solutions deliver flexibility and transparency. Unlike proprietary offerings, they free you from costly licenses and long‑term commitments. Some of the most popular building blocks include:

• BorgBackup for deduplication and encryption
• Restic for ease of use and multi‑backend support
• Duplicity for incremental archiving

These tools integrate naturally with orchestration frameworks (Ansible, Terraform) to automate snapshot creation, off‑site transfers, and integrity checks. Embedding them in a CI/CD pipeline validates backups with every deployment, reinforcing your confidence in the restore process.

Edana’s approach? Depending on your needs, we integrate these tools, develop custom extensions, or mix open‑source components with bespoke code. For instance, a TypeScript hook can extend Restic to trigger alerts in Slack or Jira upon failure. This tailored ecosystem delivers agility and real‑time visibility while respecting your governance and sustainability requirements.

By choosing these solutions, you benefit from active communities and regular updates—crucial for security. We also document each component in Confluence, ensuring long‑term maintainability and internal skill growth.

4. Embedding 3‑2‑1 Backup in a Scalable, Secure Architecture

Summary: Your architecture must grow with your business and protect your data.

A 3‑2‑1 backup is most effective when it’s part of a system designed to evolve with your needs. Rather than imposing an off‑the‑shelf solution, you build a modular “pipeline” that spans data collection, storage, and recovery. Depending on your constraints, you might combine local storage (a NAS or on‑premise server) for fast access with a remote location (public cloud or managed service) for resilience. You’re free to choose other options—object storage, cross‑datacenter replication, or even cold storage—while ensuring compliance with regulations (GDPR, encryption, etc.) and maintaining full control over your architecture’s future evolution.

Security is paramount: encrypt data at rest and in transit, centralize key management (e.g., HashiCorp Vault), and enforce strong authentication (OAuth2). Edana’s approach includes regular vulnerability scans and key‑rotation policies to minimize attack surfaces. We also assess the environmental impact of backups and favor storage sites powered by renewable energy to support your CSR objectives.

For monitoring, integrate metrics (Prometheus, Grafana) to track backup latency, error rates, and storage usage. Automated alerts notify your teams of deviations, enabling proactive scaling and preventing major incidents.

Achieve a Resilient, Controlled Infrastructure

By combining a 3‑2‑1 backup strategy with a robust DRP, you secure your data and guarantee business continuity. You gain not only strong protection for your information but also a detailed, tested emergency plan aligned with your operational objectives. Leveraging open source, custom development, smart integration of existing tools, and a scalable architecture, you maximize ROI while reducing costs and technical debt over the medium and long term. This flexible approach—centered on security, scalability, and digital transformation—ensures the longevity of your services and the confidence of your stakeholders.

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