Does a Major Data Loss Put You at Risk?

Vandalism, theft, or through natural disasters, a significant computer data loss can occur, wreaking havoc with your business operations. Regardless of how it originates, the actual loss of data can have a devastating impact on your business! Data loss primarily occurs due to hardware failures, and hardware repairs or replacement of damaged components can cost as much as $3,500 on average. Some losses are significantly higher. How is a data loss a potential huge problem for your business?

Here are a few answers:

• Need critical data to operate? Then you must have requirements in place to back-up and protect that critical data. The question to ask yourself is: “Could I continue to operate without a list of customers?” How about losing the details of all your suppliers and vendors? Accounts receivables are certainly important since collecting owed money helps keep the business humming. Many companies have done all the right things for backing up their data, only to leave the back-up data stored near the server on premises.

• Your transactions are handled online? Then you could also face significant losses due to a data crash or loss. Not only will you face the possibility of being unable to operate your business for an extended period of time, but important contacts, marketing information, and other types of data can all be lost. It may not seem like much on paper, but those sorts of assets are worth a lot of money to companies that pay other businesses to gather it for them.

• Involved with digital creation? Then the answer is “yes” as well. There are horror stories of companies that had their hard drives stolen or damaged, resulting in millions of dollars of lost work, and untold amounts of man hours simply vanishing into thin air. This can not only set a project back by years, but it can bankrupt a company, all as a result of a lack of proper back-ups. If your business is involved at all with the creation of digital assets, whether they are video, audio, or image work, it is always best to ensure that you have several back-up copies of your work. If it is your primary product, then your livelihood on the line.

• Legally obligated to keep records? For the purposes of safety, tax recording, or other financial obligations, then the answer is clearly yes you need back-ups and maybe even multiple back-ups. If you’re responsible for medical records or records of any communications that you’ve had with patients, then you must back up your electronic data, either physically or with a remote (cloud-based) data protection service. Even when you are not legally obligated to retain certain types of data or documents, you may still need that information in the event of an audit or a lawsuit.

• Are you a small business owner? You also need to be sure you protect yourself from any significant data loss. With the dramatic increase in productivity software, it means more small business owners than ever are relying on computers to record information. Manual collection of data by employees is great for your everyday operations, but it also exposes you to the potential to lose everything if your data is destroyed or otherwise unusable.

Companies in the U.S. regularly risk losing millions in lost business and productivity as a result of lost data. It’s estimated that number is in excess of $20 billion per year, so there’s no reason to take that chance to be the next victim. Secure your hard drives and servers, and always have a back-up prepared.