4 Data Backup Steps Every Entrepreneur Should Take
Guest post by Andrew Lisa
Business speaker after business speaker will talk about how integrated marketing and big data are the wave of the future. But big or small, data is useless if it isn’t protected. Your sales technique can be perfect and your books can be balanced, but if your data isn’t secure, your business is at risk. The same is true for ensuring a spiraling upward career. Follow these steps to securing your data.
Data loss can be catastrophic for businesses – develop a backup strategy now!
Take it Seriously
Data protection is one of those things that too many people and businesses plan to get to tomorrow. We know the threat is real, we know the consequences can be disastrous, but like waiting until your car breaks down to get it serviced, data backup can’t be put off. According to one report, nearly half of all businesses lost data in the cloud and had to resort to backups. Sixty-six percent of them failed in their recovery efforts – and that’s just the cloud. Between unintentional leaks, hardware failure and intentional attacks, data loss must be addressed by every responsible business.
Physical Backup in Case of Cloud Failure
There is no feeling that leaves a business owner more secure than successfully completing a backup onto a physical, external drive. A physical data backup (something that you can touch, see and lock up) is reassurance against the vague and mysterious cloud – which is actually a third-party host who you never get to meet and whose facilities and servers you never get to see. Reputable cloud hosts are reliable, and their services are changing the game, no doubt. But just in case, there is no substitute for physical redundancy.
Cloud Backup in Case of On-Site Failure
The other side of that coin entails the physical dangers of maintaining your data backups on site. Flood, fire, burglary, theft or simple hardware failure are all realities that can and do happen. Being able to access your data from anywhere, any time and from any computer is both reassuring and functionally important in the event that anything happens to your servers.
Back Up Network Configuration
As discussed in “5 Best Practices for Network Configuration Backups,” networks go down for a variety of reasons. Not only is it important to get them up and running as quickly as possible to reduce network downtime and get back to business. But there is another, more ominous reason that it is important to have backup points to which a downed network can retreat: data loss. If the network outage knocks down a firewall or any other security barricade – and a manual reboot doesn’t include its reinstallation – your data is now exposed to a gaping hole.
Cloud backups defend against on-site loss and vice versa.
The key to data backup is redundancy. When you have a backup on site, you defend against cloud failures and vice versa. Don’t forget that network failure can lead to data loss, so always make configuration backup points part of your strategy.
Andrew Lisa is a freelance business writer. He covers digital technology and office management.
Ensuring data backup empowers the Smooth Sale!
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