Information is power, and these days an enormous amount of business information is stored electronically. However, despite the precious nature of these files, the reality is many organizations are not protecting their data. According to a survey by Wakefield Research and Carbonite Inc., 39 percent of respondents say they never back up their computers, or have not done so in the past year. And Symantec’s “State of Information” report for 2012 found that 69 percent of respondents lost important business information in the previous 12 months. The information contained within these files includes customer data, financial records, even intellectual property, the loss of which could have a catastrophic impact on a business.
It is critical that companies protect their information. Is yours safeguarded in the event of a security breach, hardware failure, natural disaster, or human error? Here are a few ways your business can protect its data:
In-house Backup – Save your data on external hard drives or tape backup systems. Automatic backup software is affordable, and will periodically back up your files at regular intervals, eliminating manual backups which are unreliable. To ensure maximum protection, remove drives or tapes at night, on weekends, over holidays, or store in a fireproof safe.
Online Backup – A cloud storage provider can protect your encrypted data for a modest fee on secure servers in multiple locations. Using the cloud for backup storage provides the additional benefit of enabling access to your data remotely from any computer.
Offsite Storage – For those with particularly sensitive data, or lacking trust in the reliability or security of cloud providers, a simple solution is storing copies of your information offsite. Backup your files on tape drives, CD-ROMs, or external hard drives, and store these copies in a separate, secure location. A bank safe deposit box is a great spot, and is also tax-deductible.
De-dupe – Data de-duplication software can remove duplicate copies of files from your database, reducing the amount of data you have and limiting the space and cost required to backup your information.
Major data loss could result in your business going belly up. Is your valuable information protected? Contact us today to learn more about how to keep your data safe and secure.
