Don’t Let These 4 Data Loss Scenarios Sink Your Business!

According to a study by Blackblaze.com, 46% of users experience data loss every year. Therefore, if you didn't experience data loss this year, then you will next year. Not all data loss incidents are major disasters, but even a small data loss scenario can be costly to a business without a concise data backup plan. 

Your business is not immune to data loss. A data loss situation can happen at any time and in a variety of ways. Here are four of the most common data loss scenarios that you need to be prepared for.

Hard Drive Failure
If you're running an old server on your company's network, then you have a data loss time bomb on your hands. An aging hard drive has a higher likelihood of failing and taking your data with it down to its silicone grave. It's best practice to replace your old computers every five years because the five year mark is when disc hard drives will typically begin experiencing problems.

A disc drive will eventually fail, but determining the exact death date is difficult because every model is different, and hard drives don't come with an expiration date printed on the side like a milk carton. One factor we can look at to help determine how long your drive will last is by looking at reports from major data centers on the average lifespans of their drives. Blackblaze reported that 80% of their hard drives are still operational after five years, and Google's drives don't fare as well with 50% of their drives making it to the five year mark.

Computer Viruses
Computer viruses can do a lot more than just steal your personal information, they can also attack your hard drive and wipe it clean of your data! Computer viruses are responsible for 4-to-7% of all accounts of data loss, which means that it's vital for your company's business continuity plan to include a network security solution strong enough to protect your sensitive files.

Concerning nasty computer viruses like this (and all the other kinds of destructive malware on the Internet), Computerware has you covered with our Unified Threat Management (UTM) solution. We can also run a diagnostic on your company's system to find vulnerabilities and offer you affordable solutions that will fit your organization's unique needs. To schedule your free security appointment and learn more about UTM, give us a call at (703) 821-8200.

The "Oops Factor"
Humans are prone to making mistakes, there's really no way around it. Human error is the second biggest contributor to data loss. Most cases are minor incidents like not properly removing a flash drive. Other times, a user can royally mess things up by accidentally deleting the contents of an entire hard drive in one misguided keystroke. You can't do anything to circumvent the problem of human error (unless you replace your human workforce with robots), but with all of your data backed up, you won't have to cringe every time you hear an employee say, "Oops!"

Natural Disasters
The most dramatic data loss scenario is when a natural disaster strikes your business. Take an earthquake for example, your servers will be flattened by the rubble of your collapsed office building and your data will be smashed. Natural disasters can deal out a significant amount of damage, but if everybody made it out alive and unscathed then it's not the worst thing that could happen because insurance will cover the damage. However, insurance money cannot buy back lost data, and statistics show that if a business cannot access their data for 10 days after a major natural disaster, then they will likely be out of business by the end of the year.

You don't have to let these four data loss scenarios sink your business. You can be prepared and bounce back from natural disasters, human error, hard drive failure, and computer error with a Backup and Disaster Recovery (BDR) solution from Computerware. BDR is a network backup tool that will automatically backup your company's data to the cloud, which means a data loss scenario won't be the end of your business.

BDR is much more than a backup solution; it can also recover your data and even virtualize your network on a terminal in the event of a server crash. BDR is the key component to any business continuity plan because it minimizes expensive downtime by allowing you to access your recovered data quickly. This means operations can continue right along and you don't have to wait for your server to be repaired in order to access your important files. To protect your company from any data loss scenario, give us a call at (703) 821-8200.