Top 10 Small Business IT Questions

#7 What is the Best Method for Backup of My Data?

Backing up data should be a priority for your business.  All businesses depend on documents and data to function. Even small business, like mine, need to protect their information. This is especially critical if you’re ever victimized by ransomware or viruses.

Financial records, significant documents, and communications are some of the basics a small business needs to back up. For these needs, an online backup solution will suffice. Several of the most popular options available are identified in this recent article: http://pcsupport.about.com/od/maintenance/tp/online_backup_services.htm.

Online backup services provide you a built-in capability to retrieve files or documents, without having to figure out some complicated process on your own. Also, these solutions are incremental, meaning only the changes are transmitted to the cloud. The system “knows” it does not need to back-up identical information over and over again.

To me, the best feature of online backup services is that offsite storage is already built into the solution. You no longer need to be concerned with moving portable disks or backup tapes to a secure offsite location. In my case, I no longer need to remember to take them home with me!

One of the oldest companies, used by many of my customers, is Carbonite. It is ranked third in the report evaluation above. Its ease-of-use makes it a popular choice. However, if your backup requirements are more extensive, Consumer Reports wrote a nice report which identifies several options available for backing up your data: http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/computer-backup-systems/buying-guide.htm.

Don’t forget to test your backup solution as part of your annual maintenance plan. Once your information is backed-up and secure, make sure you know the steps to recover you company’s information and that you actually “practice” how to do it!