Backup your Information or be Prepared to Face the Consequences!

Have you backed up something important on your computer within the last 24hours, last week, last month, last year? Backups are perhaps the most overlooked critical task in any business, big or small. This article will attempt to explain why you would want to do it, what it does, when you need it, how you do it, and how a professional can help
 

Why do you want to do a data backup
For most businesses, it's not the computer that is important, it's the information on it. It’s not a question of if but when you will need to use a backup to get your information back
 

What does it do
Data backup is the act of storing a copy of whatever information you want from one location to another. It basically saves a snapshot of your information so that if something happens to the original you can restored it as good as new. The other location might be on the same computer or across a network to another computer or to a CD or DVD or a Tape. A backup also allows you to go back to previously dated information that may have since been changed.
 

When should you decide to do it
NOW! ASAP! Just like insurance, if you don’t already have it when you need it then it’s already too late. At that point your business will be at a standstill and your focus will change from being in business to getting back to business and it’s not much fun at that point.
 

Some typical things most people should backup:
Accounting files and records
bank records and other financial information
Customer Relationship management database
Contacts
Emails and email addresses
Contracts
Presentations
Letters and spreadsheets
Downloaded software
Digital Pictures
 

You might want to ask yourself, if you lost all this information on your computer would it be a problem?
 

How do you do a backup
Typically, a backup is done with some sort of software and some sort of storage. The Microsoft software on most computers and servers already has a basic backup software application built in that works fairly well but has some limitations. It can only save a backup file to the local hard drive or to the hard drive of another computer on the same network. If you want to save it to a CD you have to do a second step after the first step finishes saving the file to the hard drive.
 

How can a professional help?
When your into a project or whatever it is your doing, your obviously not thinking about backups. Your thinking about your work. It’s easy to let things like backups slide and before you know it you might have weeks or even months of work with NO backup.
 

A study by Computer Associates was released in June 2005 which found that at least 25% of small to medium sized businesses used non-expert staff to maintain their computer systems and backups. These IT (Information Technology) tasks were in addition to their regular non-IT duties.   That 25% number doubles for smaller businesses and small office home office businesses.
 

The same study found that a lot of these businesses have surprisingly complex data requirements, but only do very basic manual backups if at all. Only about 25percent of these businesses use automated backup software and 20% don’t use any backup system at all. Of the businesses who do regular backups, 1/3 of them haven’t checked the backup in more than a year. They have no idea if their backups are actually happening, if the information they want is actually on there, and if it is, can they get it back on their computers in an emergency and get back up and running again.
Some of these files that need to be backed up can be hard to find. Microsoft Outlook has the emails and addresses buried deep inside several layers of folders. To make it even harder, Microsoft actually hides the files and their folders so that unless you have the technical knowledge to disable the hidden folder option, you’ll never find these files. In other words, it’s not necessarily a straight forward task for the average user.
 

How important is data backup
One statistic from the National Archives and Records Administration in Washington found that nearly half of businesses that experience catastrophic data loss without the possibility of recovery failed immediately. The same report said that 93 percent of businesses that suffered a data loss of 10 days or more went bankrupt within a year.
 

Causes of data loss
Different studies reach different conclusions but they all tend to agree on the most to least likely causes of data loss or distruption.
 

1) hardware and software problems
2) human error
3) computer viruses
4) natural disasters (flood, fire, slide, storm)
 

They also tend to agree that the main reason data loss can turn from an inconvenience to a disaster is because of the failure of the backup system to properly restore the data after the initial incident. The main reason the backup system failed is because there were no proper backup procedures in place. In other words, human error.
 

You might want to ask yourself this question, if your business or home burned to the ground tomorrow, could you get all your computer information back and be up and running (more or less) right away? Maybe within a day or two? What would happen if you couldn’t?
 

So to conclude
Information is the heart and soul of an organization and more and more of that information is being stored exclusively on computers. Unfortunately, most people don’t spend enough time and effort trying to protect and store that information. They get complacent about it. If they do do backups they don’t check them. They don’t run fire drills to see if they can recover from a data loss.
 

Another thing people might find if they do a fire drill is that their backup software may ignore some files that are being used at that time. Maybe the files aren’t being used at all but there is something running that makes it look like the files are being used. It is very important to ensure your backup software can back files even if they are in use. Not all backup software can do this.
 

If backup/restore disasters are supposedly happening all the time then you might be asking your self why you don’t hear about it more often. I think the reason you don’t hear about it more often is because businesses are too embarrassed to talk about it publicly. Perhaps they are concerned that it might shake the customers confidence in them.
 

A word about storing backups
Even if a proper backup system is in place and all precautions are done and all checks are made, the backups may not work when needed if they’re not stored properly. Physical backups (whether it’s floppy or CD or tape or whatever) should be stored in a cool dry place away from direct sunlight and heat vents, or anywhere that’s exposed to heat, moisture, and/or sunlight.
 

It’s also VERY important to have a complete recent backup offsite. Placing backups in a fireproof safe does not take the place of this. A fireproof safe may keep things inside from burning but that does not mean you are safe from heat damage.
An alternative not mentioned are some of the online services that usually charge a monthly fee to backup your information over the internet at a time of your choosing. It’s a very simple way to make sure you always have a recent backup offsite without having to physically do anything.