Data Backup That Has Your Back

While virtually every company has computer data that is essential to running their businesses, many do not take the proper precautions to protect that data from computer crashes, natural disasters, and other disruptions. A recent study by SOS Online Backup found that nearly half of all small businesses do not back up their data on a daily basis, even though 90% of those surveyed said they have a policy to back up daily.

Moosa Matariyeh, CDW enterprise storage specialist, says that businesses need to be paying more attention to backing up their data, but they also need to be asking some important questions about the type of backup they're going to use, as well as what happens in the case of data loss. Digging deeper into your actual data backup practices can prevent costly, frustrating problems if the worst does come to pass, he says.

'Having a backup strategy means looking at the programs and data you use most frequently and understanding how quickly you need them to be back up and running without causing harm to your business,' he says. Here are a few of the key questions you need to ask:

• What are my Recovery Point and my Recovery Time Objectives? If your team uses its word processing and spreadsheet programs every hour of every day, it would hurt your business if those programs and the supporting data were not available for several days. Your Recovery Point Objective is how recent does your recovered data need to be? If last night's backup is fine, then a crash an hour before the workday ends is probably not a big problem. However, if significant data changes happen hourly, then you need shorter time periods between recovery points.
  
  The Recovery Time Objective is how quickly you need that application back up and running. If you can do without it for a few days, that's a different backup methodology than if you need your system back up and running within a half-hour, he says.
• How will my data be restored? For micro-businesses, data restoration may be as simple as using an external hard drive and copying the data back onto a new computer. For businesses with multiple employees and, possibly, multiple sites, more questions need to be asked. Will the data be sent on tapes overnight or will there be some other method of delivery? Who will be responsible for the restoration of data? If your business cannot afford downtime, should the data also be stored on a second set of servers in an alternate location that can be accessed until the main servers are up and running? The answers to these questions depend on the potential financial loss to your business if your data and applications are not available to you.
• Ask how the provider guarantees its service. Make sure this agreement is in writing and that any assurances you have been given about the timeline are listed there, says Matariyeh. 'When you ask these questions before you need your data backup service, you're less likely to have a problem when you need that service,' he says.

TECHNOLOGY ENABLER: Data Storage That Fits Your Needs CDW offers a wide range of data storage and backup solutions—from USB data backup adapters to disk and tape back-up and more—to fit businesses of every size. Click here to learn more