Data loss can be devastating. Hardware failure, human error, software corruption, PC viruses, theft and destruction of PCs, all result in data losses that cost businesses an estimated $12 billion a year. While companies generally believe they do a good job of backing up their servers, nonetheless most still do not backup PCs and laptops that are subject to simple, preventable mistakes resulting in data loss. In general, there are five common mistakes that companies make.
The reality — particularly at small to mid-size companies — is that data files are not backed up on a regular schedule and backup systems frequently go untested for long periods. After an incident, managers frequently say, “We thought we had a system in place.” Companies need a solid backup plan, with strict policies and procedures to govern the process — and they need to test their backup systems regularly.
Not backing up enough
Even when companies do have a formal backup policy, traditional methods of backup often are manual, requiring the physical manipulation and movement of backup tapes. Typically, backups may take place only weekly — and often only monthly — which is almost as bad as not backing up at all. In most lines of business the only work that really matters is work done in the prior several days.
David Steinberg
This mistake, while extremely easy to remedy, is very common. That’s because even if businesses are conscientious in using traditional tape backup methods, IT staffers often simply store the tapes in nearby drawers or some other handy location.
Because of the manual nature of tape backup — which requires mounting tapes, performing the backup and then storing the tapes — tapes often are stored close at hand out of sheer convenience. If disaster strikes a business, the primary systems and the backup tapes could both be destroyed. And even if tapes are stored correctly, the process remains unwieldy.
And storing tapes at a remote site means the IT administrator still has to go and retrieve them to perform backup or restore data.
Difficult backups
Backup systems are weakened when they require interaction between the user and the IT department. While some human complications may seem minor, they pose very real obstacles to timely backup. For example, if employees perceive that their IT department is not responsive or sympathetic, users may postpone or entirely dismiss backups. When complications are real, as in the case of an overworked or understaffed IT department, users must wait on them for backup services. That means time and money lost.
When users resort to backing up their own files using zip drives or floppies, they simply increase the likelihood of losing or ineffectively backing up data. But most likely, difficulties with an IT department will result in most end users subverting the system and not backing up data at all.
Not backing up laptops
Even in the biggest enterprises, backup is almost always limited to data that resides on servers and desktop PCs. In spite of the fact that one third of all PCs in use are laptops, almost no companies provide backup services to computers that are not local on their corporate networks. Ironically, the most mobile members of a work community often have some of the corporation’s most critical data on their laptops and PDAs. Mobile and remote workers need backups as much as corporate based employees.
Traditional tape-based backup systems figure prominently in all five of these mistakes. Many companies continue to use these systems, even as effective data backup becomes a greater challenge.
The growth of the mobile workforce, the proliferation of applications and increased security requirements all indicate a heightened need for frequent, secure, off-site backup of data. Tape-based backup systems are hard-pressed to satisfy that need.
Online backup is a different story. Today, the best online backup solutions can prevent the five biggest mistakes by essentially taking data backup out of the hands of the company and automating it offsite.
With features such as secure encryption, firewalled storage of data, privacy assurances and redundant networked storage, online backup can be preset to perform backups automatically, as well as let users recover their own data without the intervention of IT personnel. And because online backup takes place via the Internet, it can provide users with 24-hour access to files, protecting companies against downtime and lost productivity.
David Steinberg is the chief executive officer of SwapDrive, a Washington, D.C.-based developer of software products and services for backup, access, collaboration and delivery of information distributed via the Internet. He can be reached at steinberg@swapdrive.com.