Backup Your office Data !
|
It’s well known that small businesses face an uphill battle against the threat of failure. But as businesses make the move toward a paperless office, new threats appear by the day in the form of lost files, corrupted hard drives and data destruction. Business owners are now faced with new questions: what if a hard drive crashes and all of the files are lost? What if someone accidentally deletes a document necessary for regulatory compliance? What if I lose my laptop?
Although many are still complacent about data storage and backup, small business owners are becoming more aware of the potential risks of not backing up their data and are looking into online storage and backup options, which have become far more cost-effective and simple to use than traditional backup and storage methods. As people have grown more comfortable with Web-based services, and access is more convenient, more secure and less expensive, the online storage industry as a whole has experienced tremendous growth. According to a recent IDC report, revenue for this emerging market will reach $715 million by 2011, representing 33.3 percent compound annual growth between 2006 and 2011. With the FBI stating that a laptop is stolen every 53 seconds and the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics showing that 93 percent of all companies that experience "significant data loss" are out of business within five years, the very survival of some companies is at stake when robust storage solutions are not taken into consideration. However, despite the growth in business owners exploring online backup solutions, statistics from the Disaster Insurance Alternative Dispute Resolution Program (ADR) show that in 2007, U.S. businesses lost more than $12 billion because of data loss. A study by Maxtor Corp. and Harris interactive showed that while 90 percent of those surveyed knew that they should make a regular practice of backing up their data, one-third of the respondents said they never back up their data, mostly because they felt the process was too technical. On top of all of these considerations, two things in particular— regulations on electronic data and geographic considerations—are forcing business owners to start looking at storage and backup not as a precaution they’re not sure they can afford or deal with, but as a necessity they can’t afford to do without. Electronic regulations bring new responsibility “Paperless” has taken over businesses of all types, making it easier than ever to access and share information—and easier than ever to lose it or have it comprised. With new threats come new government edicts designed to protect against those threats, and electronic data has had its fair share of regulations, including the HIPAA Privacy Rule (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act), Sarbanes Oxley and others. In light of such regulations, many organizations are required to have contingency plans to continue operations in the event of data loss. The plan often must include details concerning the data backup and recovery process, who handles the backup media, the media rotation process, where the media is stored off-site, how quickly it can be retrieved in the event of a disaster and all other aspects associated with data backups, protection, security, storage and recovery. Traditional external data protection options are typically inadequate in terms of compliance with electronic data regulations, such as HIPAA. External backup storage media, such as tapes, zip drives and external hard drives, are susceptible to theft, support limited data sizes, often utilize minimal or no encryption security and must be transported to and from off-site storage facilities. Such information systems require a combination of administrative procedures, physical safeguards and technical measures to protect patient information during storage and transmission across communication networks. Geographic considerations & disaster recovery While some industries face regulations that require business owners to evaluate their storage and backup needs, most are left to plan for data loss at their own discretion. In many of these cases, geography has become a critical consideration when creating a disaster recovery plan. Perhaps not surprisingly, some companies in the industry have seen the biggest growth in California, Florida and Texas—areas that are prone to natural disasters such as hurricanes, tornadoes and earthquakes. However, regardless of a business owner’s location, it is wise to consider working with an online backup provider that is not located in a disaster prone area. Oddly, while many more business owners are looking at backup options, they often fail to consider that if a natural disaster were to hit their area and their data was stored with a local provider, the provider would be just as likely to be affected by that disaster. Online backup and storage sites are cost-effective and secure, as well as user friendly. Because the data is secure in an off-site location, there is no risk that tapes or CDs can be ruined in a flood or lost in a hurricane. Additionally, users can remotely access their data from anywhere in the world, decreasing the devastating effect of downtime. So how can business owners be sure they are exploring all of their storage options and leaving nothing to chance? After all, external backups have been the traditional methods of choice for small companies looking to prevent data loss, but these methods are failure prone. And while online storage is a better option, with the vast number of providers to choose from, choosing one that doesn’t meet a company’s needs will still leave it vulnerable. To ensure that businesses are compliant with regulations and protected not only from floods and hurricanes, as well as human error or viruses, below are a few things to take into account when selecting an online backup provider: * Security: Most backup services use encryption to protect data as it traverses the Internet, but many don’t encrypt when storing data on their servers, which is critical for small businesses. Data should be encrypted when stored and shared as security breaches may occur any time. * Versioning: Backup services without versioning features back up whole files each time they change, but an email file may take hours to back up. Some services deal with this through weekly or nightly backups, while others do not back up email at all. Also, many services keep only one copy of each file, which may pose a problem if the files are corrupted. Storage software should have the capability to save multiple versions. * Backup continuity: Periodic saving will only work as a backup if the files are transferred to backup just before the computer is destroyed. Even if a service has a scheduled backup agent that runs weekly, data may still be lost. Software that backs up automatically will alleviate this issue. * Interruptions: Many online backup tools work like tape backup software, searching for the files that must be backed up, and transferring data in large chunks. If the connection is interrupted or power lost, many backups will fail, requiring the back up to start over and making data protection rather ineffective. Backup should be interruptible, with software that can pick up where the back up left off. * File deletion: Backup servers automatically delete files that are no longer on a computer as a cost-savings method, which sounds convenient, but accidental deletion is one of the biggest reasons why people lose files. Backup programs should save all deleted files, but allow users to select files to purge when they are no longer needed. * In the case of a business that must be compliant with regulations, the service provider should sign a confidentiality agreement to prevent information being disclosed unless required by law. Some service providers will also offer a client-side encryption key to prevent themselves from being able to access data. |