Backing up your data can save you from disaster. This is probably the reason that they call it “Disaster Recovery”, right?

This is true, and it makes sense.

So why is it that so many businesses balk at the price of good backup solutions? Given; some solutions are more expensive than others. Online is more expensive than USB drives, and tape is more expensive than Online; however they all have their merits and fit into their price points accordingly.

It seems to me that things in the office that don’t seem to have a day-to-day function are often neglected if you don’t have someone like Evolve IT managing your network. Backup is one of those things. You may have a 2TB storage device sitting next to the server that you cannot use (unless your server dies). You may have a tape auto-loader which cost thousands of dollars sitting there, seemingly doing nothing. You may have a bill for an online backup solution every month with no tangibility as to what you are being charged for exactly.

Backup is one of those intangible things. People think about it like a waste of money; however I am sure that you don’t consider the insurance on your car a waste of money. This is insurance on your business.

I won’t go into the different varieties of backup – this is not what this article is about. What I want to discuss is the opportunity cost. What is the cost of NOT backing up?

Just think about your business. Think about how many emails are sent in and out of the company all day long. Think about how may documents are stored on your server (where they SHOULD be stored) along with all the information stored on peoples individual computers (NOT best practice).

Now, think about what that information means to your business. All of those emails, documents, files, folders, and directories. All honed over time to work with your staff. All collected and collated and categorized.

Now think about one scenario:

You walk into work on a Monday morning and the server is down. You call your IT provider and they come out to investigate.

IT Guy gives the verdict: The server’s dead. Gone. To be buried. Call the priest.

Where is all your information now? I can tell you where – 90% of the time it’s in information heaven.

And even if your information is in the equivalent of a coma and can be rescued – how long is it going to take to retrieve it? It can take days or weeks to get your information back.

Can your business operate without any information, documentation, email or communication for longer than a day?

I must admit, I have clients who have said they can go three days. I don’t believe it and I think its wishful thinking on their part. I think in the real world most businesses would see 1 day as stretching it.

So lets look at the same scenario as before, however if you have a backup solution in place. You walk in – server dead – blah blah blah but instead of wondering how to get your information off the server, you grab a PC and the backup drive, hand it to your IT guy and say “get this going for us.”

In a couple of hours you can be up and running again. You can have a coffee, or a staff meeting in the time that it takes to get you back online.

This way you can work and your staff can work while the server is being repaired / replaced.

This is where the opportunity cost equation kicks in:

Cost of downtime for me + my staff + losing all of our information + losing all of our history

is greater than or less than

The cost of backing up our server

So how did you go? Is backup too expensive, or is your business too important? And would you only consider one option? I try to get my clients using more than one method, because, for the very unlucky, the server and the backup can go offline at the same time…

So, if you think that you can go a week without your email or information, then don’t bother backing up and take the risk.

If your businesses is too important to you to risk – then contact me and let’s have a talk about backup. Contact me on mark@evolveit.com.au or 0448 874 052.