Desktop computers, mobile phones and tablets; they are all just machines. 

Whilst they may have more intelligent features than you or I on any given day – they are still machines. And machines break down. Maybe not today, or maybe not tomorrow, but just imagine you’ve pressed the power button on your laptop like you do every day, waiting for it to start up so you can grab that much-needed cup of coffee…. but today the light stays off and the screen is menacingly dark. 

Oh no…

You get that sick feeling in the pit of your stomach, words fall from your mouth that make Sandra from reception look at you disapprovingly; and you know this is not going to be a fun day. 

Now let’s discuss why backups are important.

The nightmare scenario starts when you discover your data is corrupted, for whatever reason, or you are unable to retrieve it. But the trouble doesn’t stop here – Oh no… not only have you lost all of your essential business information and accounting data, but you have just realised that no one has been performing backups. Your data is well and truly gone.

So how do you avoid this horrible feeling?

Enter…data backups!

A Data Backup is the copying or archiving of files or folders that preserves information at a certain point in time. Like taking a snapshot of your data. Believe me when it comes to your data you’ll be glad to have a data backup procedure in place if things go wrong.

If you don’t have a data backup procedure in place for your business applications, Thrive highly recommends you talk to your IT Administrator and consider the following when formulating a plan:

• Make sure when you back up a file, all of its subfolders are also included
• Schedule your backups for off-peak times. Most business applications require its users to be out of the program while a file backup takes place.
• Always back up the entirety of your data
• Review your backup to make sure you have included all the data you need
• Check your backups regularly to ensure you can retrieve your data if necessary- a backup that can’t be restored is not useful to anyone.
• Store your backups on media outside your business premises.

So here’s hoping that these few little tips will save you from data armageddon in your business! For regular hints & tips follow us on social media, or if you need assistance with a specific concern, send us an email, or give us a call on 1300 868 474.  We are here to help your business thrive.