When "Backed-Up" is a Good Thing

Are you backed-up? We aren't referring to your workflow or your sewer. We're talking about your digital files.

If you had a system failure today, would be able to recover them in a reasonable time period? How many of you have essential information stored on a single hard drive? When was the last time you backed-up your accounting records?

With the projected life of a hard drive of only three to five years, your business may be running on borrowed time with its critical digital records.

A recent study stated that 40% of businesses that suffer a critical IT failure go out of business within one year. 

The basics of good digital health depend on back-ups, archives and scheduled maintenance.

Everyone knows the value of backing up their data – the problem is that most businesses don't have a thorough back-up process that is:  fully automated, redundant, off-site and tested regularly.

Archiving is another key factor to consider.  Archiving is less well understood than back-ups.  Data archiving is the process of retaining data for long-term storage. The data might not be in use, however, it can be viewed or used in the future.

Similar to backing-up, there are a few best practices to follow for archiving: identification of the data to be archived, deletion policies and lifecycle management.

The old adage of "an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure" is just as true in the digital world as it ever was. Consider it part of risk management for your business.