Online Backup – A Powerful New Tool for Small Business

It’s the nature of the business.  In the hectic world of small business, the concept of IT infrastructure falls into two categories; working now and not working now.  Unfortunately, the only attention the infrastructure receives is during periods in which the latter category is in force.  All systems, without exception will eventually fail, and the resulting data loss can be catastrophic to a business.

Every business owner understands the importance of backup to the safety and security of their data, but relatively few actually take the time and effort to ensure this critical process is followed.  Fortunately, the advent of reliable online backup solutions is making backup less of a process and more of a “set and forget” procedure.

The benefit of online backup solutions is providing peace of mind that data is being safeguarded, while still safeguarding the time of the business owner.  Online backup can be beneficial to the small business in multiple ways.

Security

Online backup data is encrypted with highly-secure algorithms.  Most providers encrypt data end-to-end, meaning the data is secure before it leaves the office until it arrives back in the office on restore.  This is in contrast to most tape backup solutions, where businesses are entrusting an unencrypted copy of their business data to the person taking the tapes offsite for temporary storage.

Availability

Most online backup resellers offer web-based restores.  The upshot of this is that files can be restored from anywhere an Internet connection is available, given the appropriate authentication.  If a salesperson or manager is at a remote conference and is missing a presentation, it can be restored directly to their laptop, even if it was backed up on their desktop in the office.

Retention

File retention levels are usually configurable.  In plain English, that means a user can keep any number file revisions in storage.  With traditional tape backup, restoring an old version of a document was limited to the tape rotation and required finding the correct tape.  Online backup provides fast and convenient access to these archived copies.

Price

Considering the high cost of magnetic tapes and backup software, online backup is an affordable option for most businesses.  Magnetic tapes need to be replaced periodically as they degrade over time.

Compliance

Depending on the business field, online backup can provide immediate compliance with offsite backup requirements of legislation.  Businesses dealing with medical records need to be compliant with the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), which mandates offsite backup of patient data.

More and more businesses with a solid data backup policy are moving towards the online backup model.  Businesses without a plan face a rude awakening when the inevitable hard drive failure occurs, losing irreplaceable financial data and customer information.  Fortunately, online backup provides a new and less time-intensive option for small business needs.