4 Essential Forms of Data Your Business Can’t Operate Without

Your company's data is debatably your most valuable resource. When companies accidentally lose their data, their future in business is not a favorable fight. In fact, if any given small business is unable to access their data for ten days or more, statistically they likely will not survive the following fiscal year. Learn how to defend your data.

There's only so much you can do to defend yourself and your business from a natural disaster. However, you can implement a well thought out business continuity plan that allows your business to actually thrive in the event of an accident. The most important aspect of any business continuity plan is the data backup and recovery (BDR) solution.

When designing and implementing your company's BDR solution, the first step is to identify your mission critical data; the stuff that you can't do business without on any given day. It may be difficult for you to determine which pieces of data make the cut and get prioritized above the rest. The 80/20 rule may help. It states that 20% of your company's data accounts for 80% of the value. Here are some crucial pieces of data that you'll want to prioritize as your "20%".

1. Payroll: In the event of an accident or disaster, you're going to need your employees to step up and perform as you've mapped out in your business continuity plan. However, their allegiance may be tested if they're not getting paid because of the lost payroll data.
2. Customer Information: Your business may be jeopardized if you lose the valuable information that you have on your customers, clients, and potentials. If this information isn't saved, you'll have to spend unreasonable amounts of time trying to track down this information again.
3. Company Website: If your business hosts its own website, you'll need to make sure that its files are backed up and readily accessible. In the digital age, your website is a crucial communications hub between you and your community. Because your website is also part of the success of your business continuity plan, you can't afford for it not to maintain its presence during an accident.
4. Executive Notebooks: Your executive team has built the foundation of your business practices and culture, and hopefully has standard practices and procedures recorded in files on your network. You'll want to make sure that these company secrets are not lost.

You may find it difficult to prioritize your files according to what is most valuable to the operation of your company. Going through this prioritization process is a good routine practice, and helps eliminate junk files floating around your network. However, there is a way to bypass this data prioritization altogether. Computerware can store every byte of data that's on your network with our BDR solution at an affordable cost. Whichever route you choose (backup all files, or only the most important), our BDR solution can automatically back up your priceless data at regular increments throughout your workday. You'll never have to worry about losing your data again. In the event of an accident, we can have your information back to you as soon as you are ready for it. Allow Computerware to help you in the event of a disaster. Call us today at (703) 821-8200 to learn more about our BDR solution!