Could Your Business’s Data Backup Survive a Disaster?
Cloud services have moved the process of backing up data from on-site personnel to trained professionals. Whether you’re contracting with a third-party provider or storing your data on premise, it’s imperative that you ensure that data is safe and accessible in the event of a disaster.
The Facts
Despite the massive natural disasters that occur each year, many businesses are vulnerable to data loss and financial devastation in the event of a flood, hurricane, fire, or other occurrence. A recent study found that while 75 percent of small businesses use some form of backup for data, a whopping 63 percent rely on on-site methods such as external hard drives. Only 39 percent report that they rely on cloud services to ensure their data is protected.
Even those businesses who regularly back up on-site server data may be vulnerable. If those backups aren’t being moved to a safe, off-premise location, a natural disaster could take out a business’s equipment, backup media, and paper documents in one swoop. Insurance won’t make up for the damage, since most business insurance doesn’t cover data loss.
Understanding the Options
For SMBs, there are more options than ever for data backups. As recently as a few years ago, these businesses were required to assign a professional the task of creating backups and moving them to an offsite location. This process not only cost money, but it was also prone to human error, since the assigned staff member may have had numerous other responsibilities.
With so many cloud storage options now available, however, businesses have access to providers that specialize in keeping data safe. These providers usually have secondary data centers located in other areas of the world to disaster-proof client data. But knowing data backups are in the hands of a team of professionals who are 100 percent dedicated to protecting against data loss is perhaps the biggest benefit to cloud data storage. For this reason, the days of on-site data storage and backup are likely limited for businesses of all sizes.
