Backing up your data

Article: The true value of data

The ubiquity of broadband, along with increases in processing power and hard disk technologies have meant smaller businesses now have access to the same sorts of technology as large corporations. This has moved these smaller companies away from traditional paper-based systems to their electronic equivalents.

Moving to electronic data increases efficiency, but also creates problems of its own. Namely, huge amounts of electronic information and how to protect it. What companies are beginning to realise is the true value of this electronic data.

No longer is it just a case of employing security guards and installing fire prevention measures - the physical disasters they protect against are covered by insurance. However, it's almost impossible to put a monetary value on electronic data and it is difficult to protect.

How companies handle electronic data has generally dependent upon the size of the firm and the industry they operate in. However, one thing is standard across the board - very few understand the true value of their data. But without that information, whether be something as basic as customer contact information or complex financial projections, companies will find it very difficult to operate effectively without it.

What many aren't currently accepting is that times have changed and that processes need to move with the times - this includes backing-up data, no matter what size the company is.

We hear all manner of terms, such as mirroring, tape, disk and automatic remote backup. All manner of services are available to companies, depending on the size of the company and amount of data they hold. However, what they must do is have a system in place to protect it.

In one sense, it goes back to what Charles Darwin wrote in the nineteenth century, way before computers were ever though of : "It is not the strongest of the species that survive, nor the most intelligent, but the one most responsive to change" - the SMEs that survive and flourish are those that embrace new technologies and adapt their business processes to meet the changing demands.