You always hear about IT professionals discussing the importance of data backup. Why? Because it’s one of the single most-important processes you can integrate into your business continuity plan. While all managed services present a value to your business, only the Backup and Disaster Recovery (BDR) solution is capable of restoring data that has been lost thanks to unexpected hardware failures or natural disasters.
Conventional wisdom informs businesses to store every byte of their data possible, and with the affordability of cloud storage, more companies are storing more files. Surprisingly, in an aboutface to this maximum data-storage practice, businesses are now being advised to delete all unnecessary data in light of our lawsuit-happy culture.
How prepared is your business for a disaster, and are you prepared for the right disaster? When it comes to making your organization's business continuity plan, the scenarios you plan for need to be realistic. Otherwise, all the hard work of planning will be for nothing.
The art of war is of vital importance to the State. It is a matter of life and death, a road either to safety or to ruin. Hence it is a subject of inquiry which can on no account be neglected.
- Sun Tzu, The Art of War
The ancient Chinese military general Sun Tzu might have been around long before the Internet was a thing, but he sure knew how to make an impression on the world. In his extremely influential book on ancient Chinese warfare, The Art of War, he says that "every battle is won before it's ever fought." This applies to protecting your IT network, too.
Do you think that you're too busy to backup your company's data? There may be many responsibilities you put off because it feels like you're too busy for them; backing up your data shouldn't be one of them. If you think you're busy now, just wait until you're faced with a data loss scenario!
In this day and age, your company's data is extremely important. Without it, your company would likely cease to exist. But, it's not just you - the entire world is this way, and the more information that's out there, the more storage and backup that is needed. Professionals are constantly looking for ways to expand the way we store data, and last month, Sony managed to discover something entirely new that may change the way that we store our information.
Take a moment to consider your answer to this question, "What would you do if all of your business's data was somehow lost overnight?" How would you react, and what would you do about it? Your data is valuable, so much in fact that your business would be lost without it, and likely wouldn't be able to run properly.
A business that manages its data efficiently will be well positioned to handle growth. One of the most crucial components of data management is ensuring that everything is backed up properly; an increasingly difficult task as businesses use more data every year. Implementing a cost-effective and reliable data backup solution should be the goal of every IT professional.
It's important to understand how long your hard drive will last so you can minimize the risk of data loss from a drive failure. Disk hard drives are made up of tiny parts with platters that rotate at thousands of RPMs, which makes it the most vulnerable component of your PC. How much life is left on your server's hard drive?
Backing up your company's data is critical when it comes to keeping operations going after a disaster. Data backup is an important operating expense that you can't afford to skip out on, but if you're looking to cut back on the cost of your data backup service, then you should consider the 80/20 Rule.
"The wise man built his house upon the rock, and the foolish man built his house upon the sand. When the rains came up, only one house remained." Some locations are better than others to build on. Is your business built on the sand or a rock? You can determine your level of risk by looking at these ten disasters.
When you mention the term 'disaster recovery,' most people think about the big ground-shattering events like earthquakes, fires, floods, tropical storms, etc. While these natural events are certainly disasters and devastating in their own right, smaller things can constitute as a disaster for your business, and they aren't seasonal.
During the broadcast of Super Bowl XLIX, Coca-Cola premiered a bold new commercial meant to inspire viewers, make the world (wide web) a happier place, and of course, sell Coca-Cola. To be sure, it was a monumental marketing effort, but for those of us in IT, we find it cringeworthy and must object to the commercial’s content.
You shouldn’t need to be convinced that the Internet is a dangerous place. Hackers are lurking around every corner, waiting to breach your network and snatch your data. Despite this risk, many computer users need convincing to back up their data; a task that minimizes the negative effects associated with data loss. This is why March 31st is officially known as World Backup Day.
When it comes to your business' backup, you have a ton of options, but how much thought have you honestly put into it? It’s naturally one of the most imperative parts of your entire IT infrastructure, so you want to pay particularly close attention to how you are storing and receiving your data in the event of a disaster.
September 30th is Disaster Preparedness Day. This gives us a great reason to go over some of the most common disasters that can potentially affect your businesses. There are dozens of potential disasters to choose from, but since we’re an IT company, we’re going to focus on the four top disasters that can mess with your company’s IT infrastructure.
When it comes to your business’s technology infrastructure, the more basic it is, the better. Granted, a simple IT infrastructure isn’t always easy to install, especially when there are so many great solutions on the market that can be implemented to achieve optimal efficiency. Sometimes the best IT solutions are those that make your technology simpler to manage, and your network less complicated. That said, you’d think redundancy would complicate this formula, but it’s actually a necessity for your business continuity plan.
The cloud is a fantastic addition to the business environment that can aid your organization in achieving great things with your technology, but some professionals still feel that the cloud isn’t as secure as it needs to be, especially in light of the incredible number of threats loose on the Internet. However, contrary to popular belief, the cloud is a very effective way of storing data, particularly for your business’s data backups.
A business’s data is one of its most valuable assets. Without it, your organization would fail to function and, more likely than not, crash and burn. This is the reason why hackers try so hard to steal or corrupt data from businesses just like yours; they understand its value, and it’s about time that you do the same. Therefore, protecting your business’s continuity by backing up your data is of critical importance.
The continuity of your business should be a major priority, especially considering how the livelihood of yourself and your employees is on the line. Believe it or not, there are some organizations out there that don’t give a second thought to the preservation of their data and critical assets. Therefore, it’s clear that you need to pay proper attention to how your organization handles problems like natural disasters, data loss, hacking attacks, and other hazardous incidents.
