The Importance of Backing Up Data
Quite often a “backup” can save you a lot of grief. Think of the fire extinguisher you keep in your kitchen, or the cell phone you used to call for help after a car accident. If you’ve ever been flying, you know there’s a duplicate set of flight controls at the copilot’s seat, just in case he needs to take over. On that plane, a backup can save your life; in an office, a backup can save your business. Here are five reasons why your company needs a backup solution:
Avoid Redoing Work
Running your business keeps you busy enough, without having to recreate work due to data loss. Applications can be re-installed easily, however, when your data is corrupted or deleted and you lack a backup, you’ll have to start all over. Having current backups will save you and your staff many hours or days of recreating lost work.
Tax and Regulatory Compliance
Due to tax laws and business regulations, your company must keep certain records for several years. If you’ve only got a single copy of this data stored on your computer and disaster strikes, you could permanently lose irreplaceable information. Having a backup of critical files stored safely offsite can be a lifesaver – keeping you compliant with tax and business regulations.
Recover Quickly from User Error
It happens to everyone. An employee opens an email they shouldn’t have, giving a nasty virus a foothold in your system, or, a critical file is accidentally deleted. Frequent incremental backups can help put your mind at ease when dealing with these mishaps. Simply restore a snapshot that was taken prior to the virus infection, or recover the file that was deleted, and you’re back in business.
Avoid Downtime
Businesses frequently suffer serious downtime from major data loss. According to IDG (International Data Group), it takes about 7 hours for the average business to resume normal operations after a data loss incident. Eighteen percent of IT managers reported that it takes 11 to 24 hours – or even longer. Many companies end up closing their doors for good within two years of a major data loss incident. The good news is, your business can be among the survivors as long as you plan ahead.
Gain A Competitive Advantage
While a disaster recovery system is primarily a way to safeguard crucial digital data, it’s also a competitive advantage that can bring you new business in the event of a natural disaster. When you’re in a position to get back up and running faster than your competition, you’ll be able to serve customers that your competitors cannot.
Anyone can experience data loss; make the implementation of a data backup program a priority for your organization. For help on how to implement a data backup program, contact us at 910-378-3868.