Imagine sitting at a coffee table by yourself during lunch break. You flip open a business magazine that’s been sitting in your drawer for days. At the same time, you have your personal laptop open, casually browsing through the latest financial news. After lunch, you find yourself laying comfortably on your office couch with arms stretched out and resting behind your head, thinking to yourself: How can I improve my business? You know that as a business owner, the work never stops.
Chances are, you’re very likely to encounter the word “data” somewhere in your readings in the scenario described above. In today’s digital era, data is one of the most common themes you can find in business conversations. More importantly, it’s one of the essential ingredients of entrepreneurial success and the most valuable assets attached to your business. Part of your responsibility as a business owner is to know how to protect your data assets.
How Important is my Data?
Businesses today all rely on data in some shape or form to make important decisions. According to The Great Hack, a documentary produced by Netflix on the 2016 US Presidential Election, data has already surpassed oil as the most valuable resource on earth. The Economist and countless other publications are also referring to data as “the new oil”.
Data is a critical part of every business and a crucial component of its resilience; it is the blueprint, the playbook, and the holy grail of an enterprise. Yet many companies still have little or no protection of their data, putting years’ worth of hard work at risk and leaving themselves vulnerable to a wide array of threats. What if the moment you discover a brilliant business idea while browsing online, your laptop suddenly freezes and blacks out? What’s more terrifying is that most of the information you have on sales, clients and partners was stored on that device. What would you do then?
Data Should Be Treated Like a Commodity
To avoid putting your business and its digital assets at risk, we must treat data as a resource just like other commodities. Currently the average failure rate of backing up all data is 75% (SherWeb), which is shockingly high considering how much we rely on technology and data. Even those who are aware of the cybersecurity risks do not have a clear, feasible disaster recovery plan.
When it comes to secure data protection, there are a multitude of options businesses can choose from. Of course, more choices may not mean better results, and can lead to more confusion.
Every business is different, and each may have varying opinions on how to back up information, so it is important for business owners to know exactly what they want to prioritize.
Cloud Backup & Recovery
Backups are one of the simplest ways to ensure your business is safe from data loss. Using cloud backup systems not only protects your data , but also from the smallest of the errors we make in the workplace every day.
Consider these scenarios:
- An employee inadvertently deletes important company files;
- An admin accidentally downloads a third-party app that ended up overriding all your data; or
- An intern downloads a virus and it spreads to other devices in the office
These things can happen and are not entirely preventable. As business owners, what you can do is to take control of your data and explore the various options available to you, whether it be public cloud storage, an internal cloud backup, or a hybrid solution.
If you are thinking of adding a data backup solution or making a change in how your IT services work for you, remember:
A strong IT infrastructure is the backbone of a growing business.
Choose an experienced managed IT service provider
who will handle all day-to-day IT headaches, so you don’t have to!
To learn more about our services or schedule a complimentary consultation with our IT experts, please contact us.
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Vission Technology Inc. is one of the only teams in the Greater Vancouver Area that provides Marketing and Web Development Services in addition to Managed IT services. Web Development Services entail Vission Technology Inc. assisting small business owners in helping to establish an impactful digital presence at any stage of their business. Vission Technology Inc. can be involved at any stage of the creation of a digital footprint starting from content creation to server hosting. With its excellent project management skills and years of experience, Vission’s services span every part of the Greater Vancouver Area (Vancouver, Richmond, Burnaby, New Westminster, Delta, Coquitlam, and Langley).
