subject: Reasons why businesses should backup files [print this page] Reasons why businesses should backup files
More businesses are finally realising the importance of effective data backup, not only to ensure valuable files are not lost forever, but also to avoid losing a significant number of working hours on tasks that have already been completed.
There are many reasons a business might lose data, especially if it's only stored in a single place, such as a hard drive or server. If there's a power surge or the hard disk becomes corrupted, there may be no way to retrieve damaged files. Human error can also play its part, if workers accidentally delete or overwrite important documents and are unable to access previous versions.
The first step when deciding whether to back up certain data is to consider whether losing the file would impact on your business continuity. If the answer is yes, you should investigate your data protection options immediately. Archiving critical business data could be integral to your company's continuing survival, but data backup isn't merely a one-time consideration - for the process to be truly effective, data should be backed up regularly, on reliable media.
The importance of backing up regularly should not be understated, as each day your business carries out activities that are not backed up could be one more day spent picking up the pieces following data loss. Many security experts recommend backing up data on a daily basis, and there are programs available online that can set reminders and assist you with establishing a routine for securing the safety of your data.
External hard drives are one recommended method of physical data backup, due to their cost-effectiveness compared to alternatives such as tape backups. CD-ROMs proved popular in the past, but are becoming increasingly obsolete due to their limited capacity. Keeping paper documents as a backup plan is not the most effective option either, as the data they contain would need to be manually retyped, not to mention how easily paper can become lost or damaged.
More companies are turning to outsourcing solutions for business data backup, as there are clear advantages to housing copies of your data off-site in secure data centres. If your building is damaged by fire, flood or earthquakes, or your servers are hacked into, all your data will be at risk if it's contained in a single environment. However, by creating regular backups of data and storing copies externally, you will always have a failsafe if anything goes wrong.
