Backing up your business data

In his regular contribution to Warwickshire Means Business, Alex Williams of Warwickshire Business Watch outlines the necessity to back up your business’ data.

The information held on your computer systems and devices is often irreplaceable; if you are a business, then it is at the heart of everything you do.

If it is lost or stolen your organisation faces a range of potentially-devastating risks. These include business interruption (loss of customer and supplier records, accounts files, emails and software programs), loss of revenue, loss of reputation, non-compliance with data regulations and negligence litigation.

Tips on backing up

• Plan for the worst – If you were to lose all frontline operations do you have a sufficient back up and is it located away from the other data? This is to ensure it does not get caught up in the loss.
• Ensure that the back-up is password-protected so that if the backup was to be stolen the information on it would be inaccessible.
• Ensure the backed up data is accessible by the people who need to access it and they know how to use it.

Ways to back up data

There are several ways to back up your data; the two main ones are portable hard drives and now online via the ‘cloud’.

External Hard drives

• Portable, fast and efficient and can often handle a large amount of data.
• It is important to regularly check the hard drive is working correctly and back-ups are up to date.
• Encrypt the data with a password to ensure sensitive information is not accessible if the hard drive is stolen.

Online (Cloud)

The cloud is becoming very popular nowadays due to its ease of use and the unlimited space available. The cloud effectively serves two purposes in that it can act both as back up and primary storage.

Although using CDs and memory sticks is often an easy option, they are fragile, can easily be lost and are unlikely to have enough storage for even small businesses.

Meanwhile, Warwickshire Business Watch (created in partnership between the Warwickshire County Council Community Safety and Substance Misuse Team, the Police and Crime Commissioner and the Police)  continues to grow with advice sheets, useful links, news, events and incidents being added to the website and Twitter on a regular basis.

The biggest change is that of the email alert system which has changed from VC Relay to the community messaging system which will enable us to send out messages more effectively than we were previously able to.

To access the Warwickshire Business Watch website and sign up to the Alerts visit: www.warwickshirebusinesswatch.co.uk or use the Twitter address @WarksBusiness.