If you lose your company's data, you will realize how vital backing it up can be. Therefore, having efficient and reliable data backup systems to mitigate such a tragedy is critical.
To give you better insight, here are a few grim statistics showing how data loss can prove disastrous:
- 20% of small and medium companies have a high risk of facing a critical data loss crisis every five years. (Source: Backupify)
- 40% of small and medium companies that employ the internet have their systems hacked by cybercriminals. Even worse, half of these companies are often not even aware their networks have been hacked.
- 93% of businesses that experienced a data downtime exceeding ten days are likely to go bankrupt in less than 12 months. Half of them file for bankruptcy instantly. (Source: British Chamber of Commerce)
How to Store Your Data Safely
There are many ways you can employ to store your data safely. You only need to pick the option best tailored to your business' data backup plan. Below are three of the most renowned technologies you can consider when looking to store your data:
Physical Media
You might want to consider acquiring data storage hardware, which can come in varying forms – servers, hard drives, and solid-state drives. However, keep in mind that backing up files on your PC is not a great idea as your PC can easily be compromised.
Moreover, remember that tangible storage devices also have their share of limitations. For example, somebody may steal them, not to mention they sometimes crash or malfunction. Additionally, their initial cost of installation also tends to be relatively high. Given these reasons, it may be prudent to employ a better alternative – the cloud.
Moving to the Cloud
If you use Microsoft's OneDrive, Gmail, or Yahoo mail, you may be familiar with the cloud. As long as your business can access stable, high-speed internet connectivity, switching to cloud storage is wise.
It entails backing up and storing your files in an online, virtual drive that allows you access when and if need be. To enjoy cloud storage services and upload your data, you must register for cloud storage services.
Unlike physical media, cloud storage boasts the flexibility advantage. You can conveniently access your data through an internet-enabled device, provided it remains connected to your network. More importantly, it is accompanied by practical cloud system security features, which guarantee data safety through partnering with your business's security measures.
Backup Services
Suppose you have a trove of essential files and data; bringing the pros from a reputable backup service on board to help back up your data is a wise thought.
It simply means placing an expert or service with access to robust, dedicated backup hardware appliances, software, or other solutions in charge of your data backups. Essentially, you are paying them to help secure and manage your data, making sense as most services come with reliable encryption.
Reasons to Back Up Your Data
You have probably heard the mantra; "if you have one, you have none." Unfortunately, not everyone pays attention to such mantras. But the fact remains, data loss is a proven disaster for individuals, large businesses, and small businesses altogether. So, what are the reasons to back up your data?
Continuity of Your Business
Uninterrupted and continuous access to information is essential to every business. However, with your servers getting hacked or instead crashing, your business will likely see several of its critical operations come to a halt – the most affected activities often include filing business records and communication with your suppliers and clients.
Disrupted communications will exhibit a bad impression of you to your suppliers and clients, casting your company's reputation in a negative light. But through adequate backing up of data, you can restore everything quickly as possible and resume your everyday business operations.
Safety Net Against Cybercriminals
Data downtime is an underrated threat, and with hackers continuing to learn new tricks, they can target any business. Often, they launch ransomware attacks, and regardless of whether or not you pay them off, expect nothing but catastrophic harm to your business.
However, reliable and safe backup storage can leave these cybercriminals disappointed as it enables you to retrieve your data and reconfigure your systems within a short period.
Cutting Costs of Data Recovery
Again, an efficient data backup system places your business in a more secure position. But even better, it makes data recovery cheaper after the unfortunate event of information downtime.
Failure to backup your data may force you to overhaul your business' entire system to get everything in order, proving overly expensive.
Saving Time
Suppose your business incurs a data loss; you will, of course, put in some work and time to try and get everything back on track. That can be infuriating, like having to rewrite a vital message just because your PC malfunctioned right before you sent it or having to rebuild your company's client database.
When you, with the help of your employees, are looking to recover the lost data, you have to put your core business interests aside. Unfortunately, it may be necessary for some businesses to rebuild everything, and unfortunately, not all businesses survive the transition.
What Data Should You Back Up?
One general rule of thumb – back up anything that you can not replace if you were to lose it. For individuals, the information to back up could include music files, videos, emails, pictures, address books, etc.
The case is different for businesses as their data tends to be more technical, which explains the separate IT department assigned to manage it. Consider backing up your company's machine images, registry files, customer databases, operating systems, and configuration files.
As a business owner or IT specialist, it is your responsibility to mitigate any potential data flow disruptions in your company. And there is no better approach to attain that than through effective planning. At Total Computer Solutions, we boast a team of experts who can help with disaster recovery assessment and backing up your business's valuable data. Contact us for more info.
