Backup Disaster Recovery is something all businesses need to have in case of disaster. Whether it’s a natural disaster such as a tornado, a hardware failure, or even an attack from a hacker, you need to be protected. Any one of these could permanently disable your business if you aren’t prepared with a proper backup solution plan. For those of you still backing up data manually on tapes, or not at all, we hope you have read our previous blogs and are ready to add a BDR to your safety net.
You’re finally ready to purchase a BDR. You’ve done all the research, found a company you’re confident in, and are excited to finally have peace of mind. So now you start thinking about exactly what you need to back up. Is all of your data necessary or is some data less important? Most businesses want to back up everything because you never know when you’ll need it. But sometimes that is too cost-prohibitive.
The Three Types of Backup Solutions
There are three different kinds of backup solutions in today’s tech world: straight to cloud services, software-based products, and a hybrid approach that combines on-site hardware and software with the cloud. Depending on what kind of BDR you’ve purchased, you will first need to delegate what data is stored, is not stored, and how often. The amount of data you can back up and how easy it is to access will be affected based on the solution you chose. How you segment that data, how often it’s backed up, and how it’s backed up are questions you’ll need to answer. For example, all the data backed-up every time creating enormous file sizes, versus incremental backups that key-in on changes only. It’s not always necessary to back up everything daily, but there are some things you will want to consider before deciding on your needs.
What Kind of Data Should You Back Up?
Credit card transactions or receipts are very important. Your accounting software will keep an eye on this and automatically back up the data. You will also include invoicing, receivables, payroll, and anything that is financially related. All financials are incredibly important, even one lost invoice could hurt your business.
Next, protect all intellectual property. Unless you’re rocking an amazing vault to store a famous recipe like Coca-Cola or KFC, make sure you back up everything that brings you a competitive advantage in the marketplace. Anything with hackable data or items that can be compromised needs to be backed up daily as well.
You will also want to back up all client files. Not only is it invaluable to keep this information safe, but it would certainly affect your client’s confidence if anything was lost or stolen. Make sure you’re backing up your client and prospect lists (anything that you’re storing in your CRM, really). You spend a great deal of time developing your list for marketing purposes. Losing this information is why companies go out of business within six months of experiencing data loss.
Finally, you must back up all project management software. Anything your business uses to keep track of daily activities and work needs to be backed up. It’s also important to make sure you can maintain progress in the event of a data loss. Some businesses maintain a “paper trail” on project communication as an extra step.
Be Prepared for Any Kind of Disaster with the Right Backup Solution
Did you know that 140,000 hard drives crash in the USA every week? With that kind of number, it’s just a matter of time until it happens to you. That is not a comfortable position to be in if you don’t have a backup solution. Unfortunately, hard drive corruption is usually due to mechanical issues. Age and dust build-up can (and will) cause technology to fail. We’ve all used the old laptop we still have that’s been on its deathbed for months; freezing frequently, taking forever to load a webpage, and of course, acting as a heater for your lap. All of these things are signs leading to a crash. You may not care if it’s an old hand-me-down laptop, but you will care when all of your product data and client information is gone.
When it comes to BDR, you ideally want to back up every piece of data that you have. Sometimes, though, this is impossible based on the cost involved in maintaining that hefty data chain. At the bare minimum, keep these items in mind to find the backup solution that is right for your business. Contact us today to figure out what solution is the best fit for you.