OUTSOURCING BACKUPS TO PREVENT DATA LOSS

How important is your data? Would your company be able to survive without it? 

The answer for most small and medium-size businesses is a resounding:No! 

For most companies, the loss of data signals an abrupt halt and disrupts day-to-day business functions. While some data can be recreated and restored, important data may be unrecoverable and lost forever. The effects of data loss on a business can be monumental:

  • 94% of companies don’t recover from severe data loss
  • 51% of businesses close within two years of a data loss
  • 70% of small firms are out of business within one year after losing large amounts of data

Causes of Data Loss

When it comes to protecting your data, cyber attacks have been getting most of the attention lately—as they should. Cyber attacks have almost doubled in the first half of the year, and SMBs are hot targets for attacks. However, cyber attacks are not the only cause of data loss. The most common reasons for company data loss:

  1. File deletions/Human error
  2. Equipment failures
  3. Malware/Phishing attacks
  4. Laptop/Phone theft
  5. Power failures

Human error is the leading cause of data loss, whether from accidentally deleting files, overwriting important files, damaging hardware, or leaving the door open for security breaches. In a recent study by Stanford University and a top cyber security company, researchers found that human error causes almost 88% of all data breaches.

Equipment failures, including hard drives and internal system crashes, happen every day. Unless employees or the company has backed up the data on the computers, the information is usually corrupt and unusable or gone. Statistics show that there’s close to 140,000 hard drive crashes each week. Companies are pushing the lifespan of computers to minimize expenses resulting in more hardware failures and data loss. Sometimes it’s easy to tell when hardware is about to fail, but all too often it’s too late to do anything about it. Having an active data backup program generally will eliminate most data loss due to equipment failures.

Malware and phishing attacks find accessible entry points into your organization’s network. A simple, mindless click in an email can wreak havoc on business operations. Both malware and phishing insidiously work their way into corporate networks through email. The main goal of phishing attacks is to steal important information such as login credentials to install malware on equipment.

Equipment theft gives criminals access to data when equipment is not adequately safeguarded, or password protected. Without proper protection of the device, criminals can access, use, and even share (or sell) sensitive data. If equipment is recovered, the data may have been erased. The only way to prevent data loss through theft is to backup data and have both a data management program and procedures in place if employees lose or have devices stolen.

Power failures and even power surges can cause files to become corrupted and inaccessible. When employees are in the office this is less of a concern because many company facilities have preventable measures for disruptions from power failures or power surges. However, with more employees working remotely, the risk of data loss from power failures and power surges is higher. Setting automatic backups for remote computers is critical to prevent data loss.

Data Backup Solutions

When it comes to securing and backing up data, companies can choose to manage it in-house or outsource the work to a managed service provider (MSP). Regardless of how an organization selects to manage backups, one thing is definite—a general backup of data is no longer enough to keep data protected. Companies need to combine data protection with cyber security to develop a fully integrated protection plan.

For small- and mid-sized businesses, outsourcing backup and security may be more beneficial than managing it in-house. Here’s why:

Scalability

As a company grows, the amount of data increases as well. Outsourcing backups through an MSP offers a scalable solution. As more space is required, backup real estate is available at a lesser cost than managing data backups in-house and factoring in the price of   purchasing additional equipment and hardware. 

Business Continuity

When unplanned outages occur, or the network has a security breach, there must be minimal interruptions and downtime. Outsourcing backups and security with your MSP means that downtime and data loss is minimized. A reliable and reputable MSP can backup data every 15 minutes and can monitor and manage your corporate network remotely 24/7.

Efficiency

Data backup and recovery processes require skills that small businesses may find challenging. When outsourcing this process, in-house IT staff can focus on core business operations instead of devoting extra hours to backups and constant monitorization.

Taking steps to secure data from human error and security breaches by outsourcing network backup and security management with a company like Visual Edge will prevent significant and devastating consequences for small- and medium-sized businesses.

Visual Edge specializes in Managed IT Services, Security, cloud computing, and print/copy solutions for businesses across the U.S., including remote offices. The company has more than 30 years of technology service with a national network of expert engineers. Request your no-obligation assessment today and get a free dark web analysis.