Think back to the age before cell phones, when you’d have your closest friends’ phone numbers memorized, your business associates’ contact info in your Rolodex, and your most treasured family photos stored on a negative film strip in a secure storage box.
Remember that? (And for those of you who can’t, Google it.)
Now fast forward to today, when most of us are hard pressed to recite anyone’s phone number from memory. (If you’ve ever reached for your business card to confirm your own direct line, you know what I mean.)
The amount of data that lives nowhere but our smart phones, tablets and computers now that we’re in the 21st century can be something we take for granted if we aren’t careful. The vast majority of us do business exclusively by cell phone and computer, and on those devices live countless documents, records, e-mails, and other digital data we’d hate to lose.
Despite our increasing reliance on computers as business owners, entrepreneurs, and IT managers/executives, the data shows that 58% of all businesses have no backup plan for data loss. Other stats are equally frightening:
- 140K hard drives fail in the US each week.
- On average, small companies lose $100K+ per ransomware incident due to downtime.
- Data Loss is up 400% since 2012.
- 68% of SMBs don’t have a disaster recovery
- 60% of companies who experience data loss shut down within six months.
Don’t panic – there is a first step you can take so your business doesn’t become a statistic. If you’ve never heard of World Backup Day, mark March 31 on your calendar and get started right now.
Done. Now what?
First, take the pledge:
“I solemnly swear… that I am up to no good.” (Ha! I couldn’t resist the Harry Potter reference.)
Seriously, take this pledge: “I solemnly swear to back up my important documents and precious memories on March 31st.”
Once you’ve sworn the oath, we recommend doing some research into backup methods. (We can help.) Of course, you’ve got the cloud, but there are also many pieces of hardware to help: flash drives, external hard drives, other computers, etc.
Each has their own pros and cons, and all are susceptible to one kind of error or another, so we recommend the 3-2-1 strategy:
- Keep three copies of all your most important files.
- Maintain at least two formats for each.
- Keep at least one of those formats somewhere other than your business.
If all this talk of data loss gives you itchy fingers, don’t wait until March 31. Click here for help putting your disaster prevention strategy into action.