Any business owner undoubtedly has information that is critical for their company to operate. Whether it is computer files, billing accounts or sensitive client information, these components must be protected in order to avoid catastrophic losses and business down-time. Off-site data backup is an insurance plan. Mission-critical files are deleted accidentally more often than not. Important data can become corrupt. Natural disasters can leave your office in ruin. Image walking into your office in the morning only to discover that a busted pipe has caused irreparable flood damage to a server containing all of your clients’ data. Unfortunately by then, it is too late.
Use the following guidelines to determine if your business needs remote data backup:
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Data Importance:
This is the most important factor in determining if data backup is a good solution for your business. If you’re operating a complex database or multiple advance applications, then you’ll need a more comprehensive backup package opposed to storing word documents or smaller items.
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Types of Data:
Often in businesses, information that doesn’t seem important to you may be very critical to another employee. Be sure to consult with all of your partners when determining the most important data to be backed up.
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Change Frequency:
The more your data changes, the more it needs to be backed up. Most companies can get by with a weekly setup, but if large changes are made daily then a 24-hour backup system may be a better fit.
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Restoration Time:
How quickly would you need this information if it were lost? This can determine if you should choose a personal system, or a local off-site physical location. At iPoint, we can have your files restored in a matter of hours opposed to the days it takes for online recovery.
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Best Time For Backup:
Generally, backups are performed at night while businesses are closed and system usage is low. This speeds up the process of the backup, but if you are a 24-hour company you need to determine the slowest part of the work day to perform the backup process.
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Off-Site Storage:
Storing your information off-site is ideal to avoid natural disasters. You should also include copies of the software you may need to install to reestablish operational systems.
If you think your business would benefit from affordable, monthly off-site data backup, contact iPoint’s networking department today. Don’t wait until its too late – let us give you peace of mind for only pennies a day!