Business Owners Need to Start Thinking About Data Backup and Recovery
Backup and disaster recovery is a big part of a business continuity plan. While we all hope that nothing ever bad happens, it isn’t a guarantee. There are many reasons for systems to fail, but are you prepared with your business continuity plan? Backup and disaster recovery are important in keeping your business going.
What Is the Difference Between a Backup Plan and a Data Recovery Plan?
If you are looking for a data recovery plan, then you probably know that you should have had a backup plan. Data recovery is the act of restoring files and lost data. If you have a good backup plan then this might be a simple task. However, if you didn’t have a backup plan, then you might be in for bigger issues. While backing up data seems to be something that everyone knows they should do. Sometimes, it seems that they don’t take the time to do it. This step doesn’t take much effort once it is set up, however, business owners don’t know how to set it up. That’s where we come in. We can set a backup plan for you.
A backup plan will store your data and files to an offsite location. There are computers that are set up to simply ensure that your data can easily be restored, should a disaster such as a fire or a flood happen. With it being off location, this means that your data is secure in the event of a local disaster. Many times these backup computers are even backed up to yet another location automatically. This ensures no lost data.
What Data Should You Backup?
The data of your company could mean many things. This could be client lists, your inventory, all of the shipments you have made in the past that need to be tracked and so much more. Think about losing your computer 100%. Then, think about losing ALL the computers in your office. That could be a disaster. That’s why you need to have a backup plan so that you can have a successful disaster recovery.
While most businesses can use a simple back up plan, others might need special precautions that meet HIPAA compliance. When you are seeking a backup plan, keep that in mind and ensure that your data is meeting the criteria of your needs. Most backup plans are safe and secure, however, you should always check and ask, should you need certain criteria met. You don’t want to be liable for information leaking and getting out of your clients and customers.
Get a Backup Data Plan That Works
Take the time to research the company to that you are choosing to help you with your backup plan. You want something that is easy, fast, and reliable to backup your files. It is important that there isn’t a disconnect somewhere that will stop you from a full recovery, should there be a data loss. You have other things to worry about and need to run your business. However, think about some statistics such as:
- After a catastrophic data loss event, 94% of companies do not survive. This breaks down to 51% close within 2 years and 43% close immediately and never reopen.
- Out of all the PC users out there, 25% experience data loss each year. This staggering number is telling us that it is bound to happen to each and every one of us at some point.
- While we have this information, 96% of business workstations are not actually backed up.
These numbers don’t lie. There are staggering other numbers to back up that data loss is alarming to business and this is actually one area that can be prevented. Some companies are using tape backups, that have been proven to fail 77% of the time. While some company’s fold after a big disaster as it is simply too expensive and difficult to recover.
Data Recovery Made Simple
While nobody wants to be one of these statistics, many do not prepare for the disaster properly. If your systems are completely backed up as they should be, data recovery is simple as putting up a new workstation and downloading the old computer data onto it. It is that simple. But, if that sounds too good to be true, then you haven’t ever experienced what true data backup means.
While not having a proper back up could mean being and staying in business or bankruptcy and out of business. It is alarming how many companies actually don’t back up there data properly. Backing up used to be a pain that meant that everyone had to hit a backup button on the computer. Perhaps there was an external hard drive that was used to back it up. You couldn’t set it and forget it. However, things have certainly changed in the industry and yes, you can certainly back up things on a set it and forget it type platform.
Your Phones Are Even Backed Up, So Why Not Your Computer?
With the advent of cloud storage, our mobile data gets regular backups without us thinking about it. If you have an Android phone, for example, all of your data are set to back up to your Google Cloud. If you aren’t aware of that, check it out and you’ll be shocked at all the images that are in there. While most people are aware this is happening, we are still finding people that have no idea. This same concept works with Apple, as they too store everything for you in their cloud. Some phone manufacturers will store things as well on their cloud. This is the same concept that is used to backup up computer workstations now. It isn’t a long and difficult process, but one that needs to be set up and told what files to store and where to store them.
Seems simple, right? But, most businesses are not taking the time to set this up. It isn’t costly and it certainly is well worth it. Did you read that 25% of people will lose data each year? That’s a huge amount of data loss that could be prevented. Companies need to take notice and figure out how they can prevent their data loss and keep their business safe and sound.