Data loss is an inescapable occurrence – It might be tomorrow, maybe next week, in six months or maybe next year – it will happen to you. The question is,
Are you prepared?
Surveys have found that 58% of Australian businesses and companies still lack a disaster recovery plan for IT systems, and only 7% have prepared plans and strategies for data rescue.
One of the most important components of IT is Data Backup. Yet it is also one of the most ignored. Data is essential to the smooth running and performance of any business and is the fundamental start to any business continuity plan. ‘Backing up’ means making a copy of your most important files; this can then be used if the original copy is lost. Preferably the second copy should be held at a different location to the original and be kept in a secure environment.
These days, it is surprising how many businesses do not backup their data on a regular basis, and many businesses have lost important data because of this. The major causes of severe data loss are:
- Hardware failure
- Human error
- Software corruption
- Computer viruses
- Data theft
So Why should you backup?
Do you want to risk your business’ most important asset being lost or corrupted? Most owners dismiss this idea especially when the process of their businesses are smoothly running.
Many large businesses usually have an IT department that safeguards and ensures that backups are scheduled and are working properly. Unfortunately, a lot of small and medium businesses do not have this luxury and because they are busy with other things and assume that their systems are unwavering enough that they don’t need to do a backup on a regular basis.
I see it happen everyday, and most times is not intentional, just a mistake but data goes missing. It might be someone accessing data on a server and press the wrong key, drag to the wrong location. It might be a database fails and the data gets corrupted. Or worst still it may be a virus outbreak.
These are not what if scenarios, they happen and they happen to the most prepared customers also.
Furthermore, another study found that only 38% of surveyed small businesses have a formal emergency or disaster preparedness plan and if there is, most of them backup data on-site only.
Tactics
So what’s the best tactic to make sure that your business data is protected and secure at all times? Automate your Backups.
Whether you have 100 staff or 5 staff, an automated back-up scheme is a must. Many people know the importance of backing up to an external drive, but you should also consider backing up to an off-site service. The main gain with off-site is that your backups are stored out of harm’s way. That way, if your business data is affected, you’ll have the peace of mind knowing that your data is retrievable.
