Imagine it's a nice sunny day and everyone is working in harmony. Then BANG! The server goes down. You then call out the IT support. The IT support have a look at your computer and find that the server and other computers on the network have been stricken by a Virus attack. They also tell you they are unable to recover data from that server. What do you do? You were running sage off there. What will happen about the accounts? What about that job that needed to be done for Monday? The paperwork that was needed is on there. The Network attached storage (NAS) that you were using as backup has gone down with it and is strewn with viruses.

Over 50% of business cannot trade again after losing data. Everything in the modern world is stored on computers. We are moving towards a paperless society. How do we protect this data?

The most important thing is to back up your data. How feasible is it for you to backup data once a week when you are very busy with other work? This is one of the main reasons why people fail to back up their businesses with critical results.

SOLUTION
There are many solutions to this issue, and the main one is online backup. It sits in the background backup up 1 or more PCs. This is done incrementally as well so it only backs up the files that have been changed. It is backed up through secure connection and stored on secure servers where there are back up servers as well. This for many companies is becoming more and more of an option as internet speeds is increasing very quickly.

The other option is to have your own in house IT department which is hugely more expensive. You would have to hire a computer technician for £20000, you would also need to give them regular training (if not in house then using a specialist training company.

Ideally you want to be doing incremental backups EVERY day, and 3 backups at the end of the week: 1 for onsite backup, so if you need to restore data you have it there to hand. 1 for another nearby building so if your premises get flooded or burn down etc. you can access the file nearby, and if that backup is corrupt then 1 at someones home.

Online backup keeps costs down, keeps your data secure, and it does all the required backups you require without having to lift a finger. This works very well when used with managed services. More and more businesses are moving this direction especially in the current economy so that you gain an IT department without the cost of an IT department.

Thank you to Computer Troubleshooters of Weymouth for this article.

To view all Computer Support services with thebestof Weymouth and Portland, please click here.