Top 10 Reasons Why Every Small Business Needs Data Backup

Today’s information technology touches every aspect of your operations, challenging small businesses like yours with developing and maintaining networks to ensure uptime, reliability, and cost effectiveness. Despite this, the majority of small companies still keep and maintain their servers in-house instead of utilizing a third-party data center for either cloud computing or colocation services. This is not the wisest business decision when you consider the costs of interruptions in the form of fire, power outages, and server failures, not to mention cyberattacks.

The honest truth is interruptions are going to happen more often than not. The best way to defend your company’s data is with a backup and disaster recovery plan offsite. Below are the top ten reasons why every small business should have a data backup plan:

1. Backing up your critical data to the cloud is more reliable. Cloud computing simply means that your data is stored over the Internet. External or portable hard drives can break down. Utilizing the cloud allows for easier backup, management of data, and sharing of content.
2. A backup and disaster recovery plan minimizes costs of downtime. The findings of a recent study entitled 2013 Cost of Data Center Outages conducted by the Ponemon Institute showed the full costs associated with an unplanned data center outage.
3. Using the cloud for data backup is very affordable. The cost of this technology can easily be acquired at an affordable price—a wise investment that secures your data offsite.
4. Security at an online backup data center is like Fort Knox. Data centers are like the Fort Knox of data protection (without the armored tanks). Not only are data centers hard to break into digitally, but also physically because of enhanced security.

5. Upgrading your firewall network creates faster access to data while preventing unauthorized use. Your old firewall may be causing your system to slow by letting in too much unwanted traffic. Consider an upgrade that can take care of annoyances like SPAM.
6. Combining solutions for data storage saves money and energy. According to Gartner, Virtualization has surpassed 50 percent of all server workloads and is expected to reach 86 percent in 2016. Using your existing server and cloud backup, you can save money and energy, which helps offset the cost of server management, maintenance, and upgrades.

1. Freeing up your IT department from laborious backup tasks. The added benefit of storing your backup on the cloud eliminates the time-intensive task of manually backing up data, which gives your IT staff time to focus on other duties.

1. Easier access to your data. Having your data on the cloud makes it easier for your employees and customers to conduct business because they can access your information from virtually anywhere.
2. Switching to a Vancouver data center for your storage needs ensures privacy. Many Canadian businesses use cloud storage in the United States. But according to the January 2012 Cloud Computing Report by the Law Society of British Columbia, there are over 10,000 US-based government agencies that could get access to your data without a warrant.
3. Enlisting a Vancouver third-party specialist in creation of a detailed business recovery plan. Collaborating with a local provider can be vital to finding flaws and opportunities in your current system.

Choose a Vancouver Outsourced IT Management Team can ensure business continuity
Advance Micro Solutions, a Certified Business Partner with IBM, is dedicated providing backup services in an affordable way. Get peace of mind with a no-cost review of your IT and hardware infrastructure. And be sure to ask us about 2BrightSparks Backup software.

For a free consultation, please call 604-303-6622 or send an email to inquiry@ad-micro.com.