Disaster recovery plans are only as good as the backup strategies that underlie them. Without an open file backup solution, organizations are at risk of losing significant amounts of data. In the end, companies must identify software that can reliably backup data while files are in use and while internal and external transactions are still in progress. This paper examines the often overlooked, yet most critical component of a complete backup, open file data protection. In addition to exploring conventional solutions to the open file dilemma, this paper also highlights the compatibility issues and various synchronization methods of today's popular backup strategies, ultimately proving the critical need an open file solution represents in a company's overall data protection strategy.