The purpose of backup is to restore data and systems in the event of a system anomaly, in order to limit the risks of loss and correction of data or these systems, whereas the purpose of electronic archiving is the conservation of information in order to guarantee its continuity, confidentiality and availability in the event of litigation or a tax audit.
Its goal is to limit the risks of litigation, and to guarantee the conformity to the regulation.

Archiving should not be confused with backup.
Archiving allows the conservation of documents and backup allows the restoration of data and systems. It is designed for long-term conservation, for defined periods of time, and not for short-term conservation. It limits the risk of litigation and ensures regulatory compliance, while backup limits the risk of loss and corruption of data and systems.

Backup is only available to company personnel in the event of a problem, while recent records can be accessed by authorized personnel on a frequent basis, or occasionally for interim records. The backup must be consistent with the situation to allow for restoration due to an incident. Archiving, on the other hand, must be consistent with an archiving policy.