Seven Deadly Sins Small Businesses Commit in Backup and Recovery
Your business data is more visible, vulnerable and valuable than ever. Data backup and recovery are not just for big enterprises. The argument can be made that when a small business loses its Internet connection or its server for a few hours, it suffers greatly.
In fact, research shows that 50% of companies that lose their data in a disaster never reopen for business and 90% are out of business within two years.
In our experience, there are “Seven Deadly Sins Small Businesses Commit in Backup and Recovery.”
Sin #1: No Backup Plan
Too often, backup is not perceived as a strategic, value-added activity for small businesses. As a result, critical data is left at risk. Every business, regardless of size, needs a data protection strategy to ensure business continuity. HIPAA, Graham-Leach-Bliley, Sarbanes-Oxley, SEC Rule 17a anyone?
Sin #2: Backup is Not Taken Offsite
To minimize cost, small businesses also routinely overlook getting data securely off-site. In some the “best cases”, we hear of tapes or external disk drives stored in office drawers, purses or the back seat of a car! Online data backup and recovery solutions are available to all businesses these days.
Sin #3: Bad Backup Plan
Many companies only back up their data on a nightly or weekly basis. This leaves a large window of vulnerability where critical data can be lost. No thought is given to Recovery Time Objectives (RTO), Recovery Point Objectives (RPO) or data loss events (DLE).
Sin #4: Over Reliance on Tape or External Disk Media
As much as 90 percent of recoveries from tape-based or external disk backups fail. Most small businesses do not have the IT resources to consistently and reliably handle tape or external disk management and off-site storage. Backing up live databases to tape or disk is a lot trickier than drag and drop!
Sin #5: Our Office Manager We Can Do It
Forgiveness time! There are simply too many moving parts in tape or disk backup schemes and it’s too much for mere mortals to do. When was the last time your tape or disk backup log was checked? Instant offsite data protection solutions ensure successful backups.
Sin #6: No Regular Testing of Backup and Recovery
Tape or disk backup media is useless if your recovery fails. Testing tape-based or disk-based recovery can be time-consuming, and most companies rarely do it.
Sin #7: “It Won’t Happen To Me”
Data loss events are inevitable. Critical data loss can result from a variety of causes including human error, computer virus, hardware or software system failure, power disruption, fire or natural disaster.
Despite these challenges, small businesses need to commit to protecting their data. It could be a matter of business life or death!
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