Bob Milliken
Bob Milliken

It’s a new year again and the perfect time to take stock of how well prepared your business is to recover from a data erasing disaster. Why? – because 20% of small businesses will suffer at least 1 data-loss event this year.  Just sayin’.

Disasters, whether acts of nature or man-made mishaps, can strike unexpectedly at any organization. Recovering from a catastrophe can be very demanding, expensive, and time-consuming – especially for those who haven’t taken preventative measures and preparations. Small to midsized businesses usually think that disaster plans are only important for large enterprises.

Wrong! Even small businesses can’t afford to operate without a working disaster plan.  Many businesses routinely suffer significant data loss because they discover errors in their plan too late — usually while trying to recover their data.

While doing regular data backups is the norm in many businesses, many forget an integral factor in ensuring that the backup system works  actually testing it.

One of the most basic actions a company takes  big or small  with its data is backing it up. It’s become a mantra in this age in which information is more easily stored and managed digitally: steps must be taken to ensure that data is regularly backed up. If any malfunction, misfortune, or human error occurs, with a good backup system you won’t stand to lose thousands or even millions of dollars in lost data.

backupBut there’s more to backups than meets the eye. Let’s say you have a backup system and you lose your data – how sure are you that you will actually be able to get all of it back? It’s surprising that while many companies do back up their data, very few actually conduct tests in actual data restoration. How can you be sure that your backup system will perform as expected when the time comes?

It’s especially important for you to iron out all the kinks in a system as essential as your backup before you actually need it. When the worst happens, one of the last things you want on your plate is contending with any glitches or complications that you missed in your data restore system because you failed to test it properly beforehand.

If you can’t restore your data, you don’t have a backup. Period!

Not having a smooth and well tested restore system defeats the purpose of having backups in the first place. After all, what’s the point of having backups if you can’t retrieve your data properly? You need an efficient system that is regularly tested to make sure that your valuable business data can be easily and smoothly restored when circumstances call for it.

If you’re not positive that you have a properly designed and working system, give us a call.

Bob Milliken is the TheITguy@CascadiaSystemsGroup.com specializing in helping businesses with their IT needs. Discover how great local IT services can be.604.270.1730.