Running a small business, especially in these economic times, is hardly easy. There are so many tasks, so many fires to put out and the buck always stops at the owner's desk.
With so much going on, it is easy for small business owners to overlook some crucial vulnerabilities. One of the most common, sadly, is data security.
Imagine if your server crashes, the laptop with all of your accounting or invoices is stolen, your network is crippled by a power surge or a fire destroys PCs with mission-critical data.
The statistics are sobering. Seventy percent of small companies suffering a catastrophic data loss go out of business within one year, according to a recent Price Waterhouse study.
What causes data loss?
Every hard drive will fail eventually and the causes of data loss are varied. Hardware crashes, viruses, operating system corruption, human error, power surges, theft, fire and many other issues can lead to a loss of data.
Data is often recoverable, but at a cost, which is sometimes more than $1,000 and doesn't take into account the time and revenue a business loses while the data is being recovered or restored. Sometimes, recovery is simply not possible and the data is gone forever.
Protect your businesses data
Certainly, when it comes to your crucial business data, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. The following are five things you can do to reduce your risk:
1. Assess what is most important. First, make a list of the data in your business that is absolutely irreplaceable and for which there is no other back-up. There is no need to pay to back up data that is already redundant or easily recreated.
2. Back up early and often. Decide how often you would need to back up your data, daily, weekly or monthly.
3. Back up only what has changed. The average small business only adds or changes about 5 percent of their total data. Create a system that archives old, unchanging data and only make daily or weekly back-ups for newly created or changed data.
4. Have an off-site option. Fire, theft or natural disaster can destroy both the original and the back-up. Crucial data should have double redundancy with one local data back-up for quick restoration and another off-site back-up.
5. Call a professional. An IT professional can help your business set up a data back-up system that fits your business and budget.
For more information, call Chris Hilliard at (760) 599-9255 or visit www.valuelogic.com.
With so much going on, it is easy for small business owners to overlook some crucial vulnerabilities. One of the most common, sadly, is data security.
Imagine if your server crashes, the laptop with all of your accounting or invoices is stolen, your network is crippled by a power surge or a fire destroys PCs with mission-critical data.
The statistics are sobering. Seventy percent of small companies suffering a catastrophic data loss go out of business within one year, according to a recent Price Waterhouse study.
What causes data loss?
Every hard drive will fail eventually and the causes of data loss are varied. Hardware crashes, viruses, operating system corruption, human error, power surges, theft, fire and many other issues can lead to a loss of data.
Data is often recoverable, but at a cost, which is sometimes more than $1,000 and doesn't take into account the time and revenue a business loses while the data is being recovered or restored. Sometimes, recovery is simply not possible and the data is gone forever.
Protect your businesses data
Certainly, when it comes to your crucial business data, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. The following are five things you can do to reduce your risk:
1. Assess what is most important. First, make a list of the data in your business that is absolutely irreplaceable and for which there is no other back-up. There is no need to pay to back up data that is already redundant or easily recreated.
2. Back up early and often. Decide how often you would need to back up your data, daily, weekly or monthly.
3. Back up only what has changed. The average small business only adds or changes about 5 percent of their total data. Create a system that archives old, unchanging data and only make daily or weekly back-ups for newly created or changed data.
4. Have an off-site option. Fire, theft or natural disaster can destroy both the original and the back-up. Crucial data should have double redundancy with one local data back-up for quick restoration and another off-site back-up.
5. Call a professional. An IT professional can help your business set up a data back-up system that fits your business and budget.
For more information, call Chris Hilliard at (760) 599-9255 or visit www.valuelogic.com.