Data is one of the biggest assets that a business has, yet, many businesses treat their data as an afterthought. As long as the data is stored in a way that makes it easily retrievable, employees, including management, often don’t pause to consider the repercussions of not properly backing that information up. What would happen if all the data somehow got lost? Here are some very good reasons why businesses should consider creating and executing a solid data backup plan:
Data Loss Can Happen Accidentally
Even if businesses have a solid plan in place to prevent cybercrime, this doesn’t indicate that the data is adequately protected. The truth is, cybercrime only accounts for a small percentage of lost data. Other issues, including software failure and human error, are also risk factors. According to the Disaster Recovery Preparedness Annual Report, 50% of incidents result from software error and 43% of data loss incidents occur from human error. That is why having a data backup plan in place is so important. It is much easier for a business to rebound after a data loss incident occurs if the lost information can be recovered through the backups.
Lost Data Can Equal Lost Revenue
Depending on how severe the data loss is, losing important data can result in a loss of revenue. In a recent study released by EMC, they estimate that businesses lose 1.7 trillion dollars total due to data loss. The true issue with this statistic is that in a majority of cases, the situation could have been prevented. By having a dependable data backup solution, this can prevent the ensuing loss of revenue that results after the data is lost since it can easily be recovered. However, it is important to understand that data loss can still result in a hit to revenue since it could still take some time before all the information is recovered. Still, the damage will likely be much smaller than if no backup system were in place.
Data Loss Can Result in Lost Efficiency
These days, workplace efficiency is directly tied to profitability. What happens when people within a company experience lost data? Well, unless the data is recoverable, this means that all projects, correspondences, and information the individuals are responsible for will be lost. This indicates that employees will waste valuable time repeating their efforts, if possible. If it isn’t possible, the important information is simply lost. Each moment spent trying to deal with the repercussions of a data crash without a backup results in a serious loss of workplace efficiency. The best way to prevent this from happening is to insure that there is a data backup and recovery plan in place.
When businesses fail to plan and execute an effective data backup and recovery plan, they put the health of their companies at risk. The best strategy is to make sure that these businesses not only have a backup plan, but to make sure that the process of recovering the data is also efficient.
