Business back-up against extreme circumstances28 June 2006
Few people can have forgotten the havoc and devastation wreaked by last year's hurricane season on the Gulf Coast of America and as the possibility of similar extreme weather conditions approaches this year, businesses in the area will be looking to prepare themselves for the worst.
For businesses looking to protect themselves against disruption, a key aspect of protecting company data and information in the event of a disaster is online data backup. A group of companies has formed a consortium to offer companies in the region free data back-up services for the duration of the hurricane season. Called GeeksForRelief the group of professional back-up providers are offering 120 days of remote data storage to firms and households.
Tommy Gardner of Remote Backup Systems, one of the companies offering the free service, said: "By offering free online data backup services to those in need during hurricane season, we collectively hope to spare many businesses and individuals the trauma, cost, and inconvenience associated with losing valuable computer data."
Last year's devastation means that such measures are a necessity for companies in areas affected by extreme weather conditions, but online data backup should be considered by firms of all sizes who wish to prepared against a range of emergencies.
The technology
Services such as BT's Datasure offer a number of benefits to companies and their contingency plans. It does not necessarily take a disaster of hurricane-size proportions for critical business data to be lost forever and for businesses to suffer the consequences, a virus infecting the network or a laptop being stolen is enough to result in a serious disruption to operations. If data is backed up remotely:
- Essential files and information can be retrieved quickly, allowing businesses to get back up and running as efficiently as possible.
- If files are damaged by a virus then earlier, unaffected versions of them can be retrieved.
- The stored data is encrypted so if, for example, anyone got access to a PC or device they would be unable to recover the information.
- Backup can be updated automatically and staff working on the move can backup data at any time using their laptops.
Should a company work on the premise that "it won't happen to us" and fail to prepare for disruptions and disasters adequately, the consequences could be catastrophic. At a monthly cost, most companies can't afford not to opt for a online data backup service such as BT Datasure.
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