Despite the known risks, many small businesses don’t take backups seriously.
And yet it’s much faster and easier to get in the habit of backing up data instead of suffering the loss of time rebuilding and recovering lost data.The situation is similar to skipping regular check-ups at the dentist – until you’ve got a toothache, most of us don’t think much about it or avoid it because we think it’s too expensive (and painful).
Most people are reactive and that, in today’s information driven, Internet reliant world, can be pretty risky.
Few have any real idea of the what, why and how of data protection. It astounds me that so few take the time to perform regular backups and far more have never even considered doing a backup.
Doing backups should be as natural as brushing your teeth twice a day – especially in a world where information is as essential to you as your teeth.
The amount of information we generate – and wish to store – across all our devices is constantly increasing, and its value is also increasing.
And time is the other, often overlooked, factor. Few of us want to waste 5 or 10 hours redoing a large presentation, for example, due to data loss..
Big business fully understands how critical data is. They understand the risks and constantly make redundant backups and archives. All professionals whose work is closely dependent on storing digital information – like photographers, artists, musicians and designers – also strive to back up. But this is still only the tip of the iceberg.
Medium-sized companies tend to protect portions of their data, but small companies back up almost none of it, and it doesn’t even cross the minds of most individuals to secure their personal data.
Even if they understand the need to back up, many companies and individuals miss the vital point of privacy in their data protection equation. Their backups rely on tools with little or no security or they store their data on third party services.
Openly storing private information on the Internet or with a service leaves information and personal identities exposed. It offers the service companies the opportunity to collect it all and, depending on the service agreement, to own it all.
As data plays a larger and larger role in our lives, information is easily becoming one of our most important assets. And while most of the other ‘valuables’ in our lives depreciate and quickly become obsolete — gadgets, cars — critical data remains so.
It is vital for all of us to become data savvy, to develop a good sense of how to work with data and preserve our privacy through secure, independent backups. It’s much faster and easier to get in the habit of backing up instead of suffering the loss of time rebuilding and recovering lost or stolen data.
As you consider your steps in saving for your future, consider also how to properly protect your data and backup for your future.
About the Author
Serguei Beloussov, a well-known entrepreneur, investor and the founder of Parallels, Acumatica, Rolsen, as well as the venture capital firms Runa Capital and QWave, returned to the management of another company he created, Acronis, in 2013. Acronis is a global provider of backup, disaster recovery, and secure file sharing and file access solutions.
