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The Online Advisor - February 1999
Today's technology requires frequent backup
You arrive at the office early, eager to finish work on the big sales presentation that's due this afternoon. You've been working on it for three days now, and all it needs are some finishing touches. As you enter the office, you notice the lights aren't working. Must have been that thunderstorm last night. You reset the circuit breakers and switch on your computer. Nothing!! You feel the first twinges of panic as you realize that a lightning surge has fried your computer's circuits. What are you going to show the customer this afternoon?
Well, if you're smart you have a system of backing up your computer daily, and you should be able to recover yesterday's work rapidly. If not, you could be out of luck.
There's really no excuse for not having computer files backed up. If your office uses a computer network, automated systems can create a tape backup of the data on every machine during the night. Even if you use a stand-alone computer, you should routinely back up your data to magnetic tape or floppy disk. And if you're working on an especially important project, save it on a disk to take home with you every night.
If your business depends on other technology, give some thought to backup there, too. It may be cheaper to buy a spare laser printer, an uninterruptible power supply for your phone system, or even a backup copier, than to lose customer orders or miss deadlines. As prices of electronic equipment continue to fall, providing redundant systems can be cheap insurance. It's smart to review the areas where you depend on technology, assess your weaknesses, and make backup plans.