Tech Column

Technology > Losing It

Take the necessary precautions and back up your data— you’ll save yourself a lot of trouble should things go wrong.

words by > Lee Gimpel

A few years ago, my computer crashed. Few things in life are as frustrating as this major inconvenience. Yes, I had many files backed up. Of course, if I’d known the hard drive was going to die in the next day or two, I’d have been religious in my backups, but that’s the thing about such calamities—they’re unexpected.

If losing my own computer can be such a pain, obviously that pain is magnified exponentially as businesses increase in size. And it’s not just frustration; in the information age, data can make or break a company. Indeed, technology consulting firm Gartner Inc. has found that of those small and midsize businesses that have had a major data failure longer than a day, half will go out of business.

So, it’s a good idea to plan ahead—and be prepared. While a dependence on data is the issue, there has never been a better time to use technology to save it.

An external hard drive such as Seagate’s 300 GB pushbutton model is a first layer for data backup (expect to pay $150 to $250 for a personal device). Look for one with a speedy FireWire connection and expect to pay more for an iPod that, aside from music, can also store important files. Th ese will save your computer if it crashes, but if the offi ce experiences a fire or flood, they won’t be much help.

“Remote data backup is a more secure option,” says Chaz Popovich, vice president of IT consulting firm OSI Technologies. Aft er all, even if you have backup tapes secured in a fireproof safe, a disaster in the area means it might take days or weeks before you can access them.

Th ere are plenty of remote backup options on the market. On the basic end, check out mozy.com, which off ers 2 GB of storage for free or 30 GB for $4.95 per month. Pricier options will run $10 to $20 per month for about 5 GB but oft en include phone support. If you require more storage, check out industrial-size solutions from providers such as Iron Mountain.

Remember that you can scan in important paper documents—think insurance policies or lease agreements—and back those up too just in case you can’t get to the filing cabinet where you stored them.

Contingency Planning and Disaster Recovery: A Small Business Guide (Wiley) off ers practical advice from two authors with disaster experience—Donna R. Childs, a former Swiss Reinsurance Company executive, and Stefan Dietrich, an IT professional.