Prevent Lost Data During a System Crash with a Thorough Backup Plan

Imagine having your business running smoothly, and then your computer system has a total meltdown. I’m talking about losing all your files, computer programs, and the customer information you’ve spent years acquiring. It’s all gone and you basically have to start from scratch.

 

A Saving Grace

A computer system failure can be devastating for your company if you don’t have a backup plan to retrieve your company’s data. Your computer system may fail for a variety of reasons. A natural disaster may inundate your building. Think of the destruction a storm like Hurricane Katrina could unleash on your building. Fire could wipe out all your servers and computers.

 

You could also lose your system through man-made actions. Hackers could steal your computer data and hold it ransom until you pay them a significant amount of money. A disgruntled employee may take down your system right before they walk out the door.

 

Getting Started

Before any of this happens, you should have a detailed backup plan in place to get your business back up and running as quickly as possible. To help you develop your backup plan, you should first establish a few details, such as:

 

Recovery Time Objective (RTO) – This is the amount of time it takes to get your business up and running normally after the crash.

 

Maximum Tolerable Period of Disruption – This is the maximum amount of time you want to sit idle if you miss the RTO target. This is when getting back to work is critical to keep you from losing customers or missing deadlines.

 

Frequency of Backup – An important part of a backup plan is to create a schedule for backing up data, and sticking to it. Depending on your business, you may want to backup your data once a day, perhaps even twice a day.

 

Location, Location, Location

Next, you’ll need to decide whether you want to keep the backup data in a physical location or on one of the Internet-based backup systems, or a combination of both. If you choose to keep your backup data in a physical location, consider storing it in a secure site, such as a fireproof safe or a protected building. Internet-based backup systems, also known as saving your data to the “cloud,” can allow you to schedule regular backups. However, a cloud-based backup system may not save all your critical data if your server crashes.

 

Backing up your data is a critical function for any business. Once you’ve established your backup plan, it should become a habit just like running daily reports or processing receipts. It’s a process that can save you time, money, and a lot of h