Data Backup Nightmares: Don’t Lose Your Data

I think we’ve made it pretty clear that your organization needs to back up its data. We’re continuously explaining that if you don’t back up your data, and have a plan to get it back quickly, you are really testing the foundations of your business. After all, in today’s business climate, data is a very big deal.

Today, we will play out some scenarios where a phantom organization’s data is put at risk and the variables that would allow them to overcome and sustain operational effectiveness through the scenario.

Scenario #1: Power Surge Ruins Server
It was a dark and stormy night…. Well maybe not, but wherever the sun’s placement was on this day, a storm that has brought with it, gale-force gusts (that are strong enough to topple hundred-year old tree limbs onto power lines), cuts the power quickly, and in that last-second power surge, the components on your server’s hard drive decides to fail.

BLAM!

In the blink of an eye, the situation for your business has suddenly changed considerably. First off, when the lights come back on, your server is broken. Secondly, you probably don’t have the hardware available on hand. At that moment, you realize that your business has effectively stopped until you repair the server. To top it all off, you don’t know the status of your data on the server until it gets back online.

With a backup and disaster recovery platform like the one that we offer at SCW, you can mitigate the immense amount of downtime your organization is looking at when your server fails. Since the BDR device can be used as a temporary server, you can be back up and running, and most importantly, making revenue.

Scenario #2: Team Member Email Goof
Business moves fast, and employees need to react to support problems of all types. Occasionally, they will get an email that, while seemingly picayune, is actually a real problem. In their haste, an employee may click on an attachment or a link and it will unleash malware onto their system, that can, if not immediately detected, spread to an entire network. In doing so, it can have a major effect on your business’ ability to maintain effective operations; especially if the malware they download is ransomware.

Ransomware, specifically, is one of the most frightening and frustrating malware strains used by the modern hacker. There are currently two major forms of ransomware: locker ransomware and crypto ransomware. Locker ransomware locks access to the infected computer, while crypto ransomware actually seeks out personal data and other useful files and encrypts them, making it nearly impossible to access those files. Worse yet, the ransom demand comes with a countdown clock that exacerbates the anxiety decision makers have about an already extraordinarily stressful situation.

By having a strong backup and recovery platform, you aren’t forced to give into these hacker’s demands. Since backing up all of your organization's data can get costly, some businesses simply choose to back up data that is crucial to the sustainability of the organization. For these companies, it becomes evident pretty quickly that they should have had a plan to backup all their data, because even files that you wouldn’t expect to ever use, could be useful when the time comes. Building a comprehensive backup and recovery plan that aims to protect your company from the WORST-case scenario is important.

Scenario #3: Time Always Catches Up
When your company’s information systems work as designed and there are no major problems for an extended period of time, it might feel like the new normal. Rest assured, without proactive maintenance, it is anything but normal. When your IT does work successfully for a while, it can be truly devastating when it finally fails; and, it can come at a very inopportune time. If an organization’s IT has been working hard for years without major problems, it is on borrowed time.

For this reason, a hardware refresh is something that should be considered mandatory every few years. This will do more than keep your IT current. It also provides an organization the ability to control the scenario. By being proactive, a business can actually cut down on costs, and it will most certainly reduce revenue-sapping downtime.

With a BDR, any organization can have multiple copies of their data, making the migration process easier. Businesses can sustain operations while setting up their new hardware, so that when that is done, whether it is hosted in-house or in the cloud, they can continue operations and not miss a beat once their new hardware is ready.

A Backup and Disaster Recovery from SCW can do a lot for your business, but what it really does is give you the peace of mind that if something were to go wrong, and situations look hopeless with your hardware, that the BDR can help get you out of some pretty serious problems. Call our professional technicians today at (509) 534-1530 to see how they can help you protect your business.