With the importance of computers in business at an all time high, the need for reliable and secure data backups has never been greater. More surprisingly, the percentage of computers actually being backed up on a daily, or even weekly, basis is still low. Too low, according to Jimmy Britton of Houston based eVision Systems.
Houston, TX (PRWEB) October 2, 2007 -- With the importance of computers in business at an all time high, the need for reliable and secure data backups has never been greater. More surprisingly, the percentage of computers actually being backed up on a daily, or even weekly, basis is still low. Too low, according to Jimmy Britton of Houston based eVision Systems.
"People tend to just assume their data and computer files are being backed up on a regular basis, and the scary fact is, most of the time they just aren't," Britton said. "Companies underestimate the value of backups until they experience something catastrophic. The added downtime to rebuild computers and recover data just adds insult to injury."
To prevent such data losses, Britton says he advises clients to consider off-site data backup solutions. Off-site data backup is a process by which computer data is transferred via the Internet to servers at a secure backup facility where the data is warehoused until it's needed by the customer. Local (on-site) backups are frequently used in place of off-site storage, but they are only effective as long as the physical location of the computers is not damaged.
"If you have a fire, a tornado, or even a hurricane, your backups will be worthless if they're destroyed with the rest of the building. Local backups are great, but to truly protect your business's digital assets, remote is the way to go," said Britton.
In cases where businesses have no real backup solution in place, excuses for not addressing that need are generally related to the cost of storage such large amounts of data (SAN solutions - Storage Area Networks - can be a lot of money), and the growth rate of the storage needs. Remote backup services address these issues by spreading the cost of maintaining and expanding the storage capacity to all of its users.
In order to determine a businesses storage and back-up needs, as well as select an appropriate vendor, businesses should find answers to the following questions:
1) Determine which systems, software and files should be backed-up.
2) Note the operating systems of the computers, and the speed of their connection to the Internet.
3) Separate this list into mission critical systems/files and non-mission critical.
4) Calculate the amount of data that will need to be transmitted to off-site storage.
5) Determine how much of the data changes and how frequently. This will help the vendor develop the right kind of solution based on your needs. (e.g. it saves time, money and effort to only back-up data that has changed, rather than entire machines).
6) Note any special security security needs (HIPPA, Sarbanes-Oxley, etc)
Having this information handy helps to define the needs of the business, which in turn narrows the field of possible solutions and vendors.
When choosing a vendor, verify that they have experience with the same types of operating systems and computers/software to be backed-up, and also ask if they are certified by the manufacturers with whom they work (e.g. Microsoft Certified Data Center, etc.).
"Ultimately, everyone needs to be backing up their systems and their data, but most places feel it's too expensive or too complicated to implement an in-house solution. Utilizing an off-site backup solution is actually very cost effective and not at all painful to implement," Britton said. "Especially if you consider the cost of not backing up your data."
About eVision Systems
eVision Systems specializes in delivering fully integrated, enterprise-wide application solutions to match your company's growing financial and business information management needs. Their IT professionals have vast experience across a wide range of software languages, hardware, applications and development tools.
eVision is a certified Microsoft Data Center in a class A facility. They are also Microsoft Certified Gold Partner, and Cisco Small/Medium Business Partner. For additional information about the eVision DataCenter, see www.eVisionsys.com/backup/facilities.html . To learn more about eVision Systems SAFeDATA Disaster Recovery Backup solutions, please see www.eVisionsys.com/backup/
eVision is a Value Added Reseller for Microsoft Dynamics GP (Great Plains), Covad VoIP, and Microsoft Retail Management System in Houston, TX. They can be reached at (713)
807-9555
Source: PRWeb: Legal / Law
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