Unless you’ve been living in a tomb, you know you should be backing up your computers and server. But here’s something you probably DON’T know that will come back and “bite” you: simply having a backup of your data is NOT ENOUGH to guarantee you could be back up and running fast in the event of a disaster.

Having a data backup merely means that you have a copy of your company’s data stored somewhere; it does NOT mean you have a way to instantly restore your network back to normal – a shocking dose of truth most business owners discover after they’ve experienced a major network crash or data-erasing disaster.

For example, if your network dies because of a hardware failure, your entire company is down, period. No e-mail, no printing, no accessing your database, customer records, and more. Until whatever caused the problem can be fixed (which might involve ordering replacement parts), your business is deader than a doornail.

So You Reach For Your Backup Only To Discover...

Your information is there, but without a server, you have nowhere to load that information, and no way to access it. On top of that, a backup only holds your data, not your operating system, settings, or software applications. So even if you can load the data, you can’t actually use it without re-loading all the software applications—no small feat. Even IF you have all the software disks and key codes (most people don’t), it could still take days — possibly weeks— to rebuild, and the costs can run into the thousands.

That’s Not The Half Of It

The three most common causes of server downtime are hardware failure, software corruption and human error. Nearly 20% of businesses suffer damaging downtime from fire, flood, theft, or other natural disasters such as hurricanes, and 44% of them never recover—and that’s mostly because they didn’t have a disaster recovery plan in place.

A disaster recovery plan covers more than just backup. It maps out how to have your business restored and running again in every possible scenario.

For example, if another company in your office building has a fire, the police may quarantine your building preventing you from even entering your office. Or if a major storm knocks out power, Internet or the phone lines, you need a plan “B” for servicing customers, taking orders and keeping things rolling.

3 Crucial Components To A Disaster Recovery Plan

  1. Have One! As the old adage goes, “If you fail to plan, then you plan to fail.” When it comes to disaster recovery, nothing could be more accurate.If something happens to your office, will your employees be able to work from home? Do you have an alternate plan for your phones? Where would you temporarily set up shop? How quickly could you get technology equipment you need to function like computers, scanners, or printers? How will you access the Internet? Make a point to document the answers to these questions.
  2. Onsite Server “Virtualization.” In a downtime situation, virtualization is basically a business owner’s lifeline to his business. Once only available to big businesses with deep pockets, this now affordable technology can literally get you back up and running just as you were before the disaster... in as little as 24 hours. If the disaster doesn’t take out your whole office, virtualization can have you back in business the same day. Here’s how it works. A second server makes exact copies of everything on your server—operating system, software applications and data—every 15-60 minutes.This server replica, also known as an “image,” can take over if your main server fails or gets corrupted. No need to re-load software, reconfigure your network, or re-load your data. In as little as 30 minutes, everyone in your company can get back to work, just as they were before the downtime. Compare this to the days or WEEKS it could take without virtualization; the productivity and money savings is staggering. Side Note: If you are still using old tape backups, you NEED to throw them away and virtualize your server with an offsite backup!
  3. Offsite Image of Your Server. Fire, flood, theft, natural disasters, or even faulty office sprinkler systems can physically damage your office equipment, including your server and your backup system.

Head this off by having an exact copy (an image) of your server’s operating system, settings, programs, and data sent daily to an offsite location. Also make sure this image can be quickly loaded on to a server and shipped to you. With this in your plan, a tornado could rip open your office and destroy everything, yet you could be back up and running within a few days.

Want To Make SURE Your Business Can “Stay Open”
After A Disaster? A FREE Disaster Recovery Analysis Can Help

Because it’s Halloween, we’re giving away a FREE disaster recovery analysis to anyone who acts now!

Our Proven “ACTSGuard” offering Eliminates the Risk and
Hassles of tape, disk, or external backups!

Thanks to our ACTSGUARD Solution, you can safely upload your financial records, client data, and files right over the Internet every night to a secure, offsite data center.

This means:

  • Your files are automatically backed up every night right over the Internet. No more rotating and storing tapes – one more important item off your to-do list!
  • Your data is safe from fire, floods, storms, viruses, hackers, hardware malfunctions, and human error!
  • You can back up ALL of your data and not be limited to the size of your tape drive.

Still Think Your Data is Safe?
Our Free Disaster Recovery Analysis Will Reveal the Truth…

At no charge, a security specialist will come on site and…

  • Audit your current data protection including backup and restore procedures to see if there is anything jeopardizing your data’s security.
  • Review procedures for storage and transportation of data. Many people don’t realize they damage their disks (and thereby corrupt their data) by improperly caring for their storage devices.
  • Check your network backups to make sure they are accurately backing up all of the critical files and information you would NEVER want to lose.
  • Present a simple and easy to understand chart that will detail the makeup of your data, including the age and type and size of files you are backing up, i.e. personal files, video, etc.
  • Discuss current data protection needs and explain in plain English where your risks are. We know everyone has a different level of risk tolerance, and we want to make sure all the risks you’re taking with your data are by choice not because of miscommunication or accident.

Depending on what we discover, we’ll either give you a clean bill of health or reveal gaps in your data backup that could prove disastrous. If it’s appropriate, we’ll provide you with an action plan for further securing your data with our ACTSGUARD Solution. Naturally, I don’t expect everyone to become a client, but I do expect a small percentage to hire us to protect their most valuable asset, corporate data.

To secure a spot for your FREE ANALYSIS, send us an email to getacts@acts360.com.

Happy Halloween!