5 Facts why to BACK UP YOUR DATA

It only takes a split second for an unforeseen event to arise, to compromise your critical data and jeopardize your reputation. Despite advances in technology, data is still highly vulnerable to a number of threats that can leave you in unwanted, stressful situations.

Businesses are required to have automated backup routines in place, but very few individuals think about a personal strategy when it comes to important data.

Even in today’s increasingly connected world, there are times when there is still a need to work offline. It is in those situations in particular where a backup strategy can mean the difference between success and failure. The reason for a strategy? Ask any consummate IT professional and they will tell you that failures rarely occur when one is prepared. The highest chance of a failure occurring is during a period of complacency.

You need only do a brief search on the web to find numerous stories where a non-existent backup strategy caused immense stress to everyone involved. If you need more motivation for a solid backup strategy, take a look at these five key reasons below.

1. Data Is Currency

Your valuable data is the equivalent of cash. If you’ve spent a large proportion of your time working on an important document, any issue could cost you dearly. Missing a deadline could lead to losing an existing client or even potential clients. It’s difficult to acknowledge the impact of one of these events until it happens.

2. Power Failures

Although there are many fault-tolerance technologies in place, there are always points of failure, of which power is one. No one can ever be completely sure that even a backup source of power will not fail. Getting into the habit of regularly backing up documents may help to eliminate some of the risks associated with power failures.

3. Hardware Failure

Hardware failures are still commonplace even with today’s sophisticated technology. All it would take is a slightly defective hard drive and, before you know it, all your data is gone. Even if some of the data is retrievable, the possibility remains that the data has been corrupted as a result of the failure, and is therefore rendered unusable.

4. Recovery Times

In the event of a failure, recovering data is not always straight forward, and can take time. It is entirely possible that recovering data on a hard drive can take days, and restoring data on a server, can take several hours. By the time data is recovered any windows of opportunity may have already passed by.

5. Theft

All of your mobile computing devices are at risk of theft. If the data is not backed up, recovery is ultimately impossible. Once the device is gone, the data is gone with it. Enable your cloud backups to be sure that sensitive data belonging to you, or your clients, is never lost for good.

Remember these reasons and, with them in mind, create a backup strategy to protect yourself from critical data loss, and enjoy peace of mind.

“Courtesy of Amit Sodha is a blogger who writes on topics including motivation and self help.”