When the livelihood of your business depends on data stored in your computer network, you just cannot afford to leave anything to chance. Data preservation and the ability to retrieve it at any point in time is the foundation of business continuity.

Yet the facts about backup failures are shocking:

• According to the Boston Computing Network, 31% of PC users have lost data due to events “beyond their control.”
• Analysts at the Hughes Marketing Group found that 40% of businesses that experience a critical IT failure go out of business within one year.
• In a recent Gartner study, only 35% of backup tests were successful.

Some of the more common reasons for backup failures include accidental formatting of a hard drive, accidental data deletion, malware or virus attack, firmware corruption, natural disasters, logical errors, and continued computer operation when your hard disk is starting to fail.

So how certain are you that your backup system is 100% reliable? Could a false sense of security be preventing you from taking actions that will ensure your backups will really be there when you need them?

7 Ways to Avoid Data Disaster Due To Backup Failure

Without proactive measures in place – and Murphy’s Law being what it is – the odds of a successful restoration when you need it most may not be as high as you’d like to think… So what can you do? Here are seven ways to avoid a damaging loss of data due to backup failure.

1. Insist on regular, remote and redundant processes. A good rule of thumb is 3-2-1. That means three copies of your data stored in two off-site locations, backed up a minimum of one time per day.

2. Don’t go too cheap on disk drives. Less expensive arrays that save money by doing without features like redundant power supply and hot spare drives may leave your data at risk.

3. Guard against human error. Make sure the people performing backups and restores know exactly what to do – and what not to do. Take people out of the loop and automate wherever possible. And be especially cautious in situations where backups aren’t a part of someone’s regular duties.

4. Are your backup software settings being checked routinely? When new software or updates are put into service, a change in the way the settings are configured can cause incomplete backups or backups that fail completely. Do the people who maintain your backups include this on their regular to-do list?

5. Could some files be getting left out? As resources are added and priorities shift, files and folders can get misplaced or accidentally left off the backup list. Insist on a quarterly or annual meeting with your backup management team to make sure all mission-critical files are included in your organization’s data recovery systems.

6. Address network issues immediately. Any component in your system that isn’t working properly can introduce another point of failure in your backup process. Every juncture in your network, from a misconfigured switch to a flaky host bus adapter, can hurt your backups.

7. Ask for help with your data backup and recovery system. You cannot be expected to be an expert in all things. Yet data is the backbone of your business – its protection and recovery should not be left to chance. Why not leverage the knowledge, skill, and experience of an expert in the field?

Even with all these measures in place, the best way to keep your organization safe from harm due to data loss is to verify your backup system by performing regular test restores. This will help identify any problems in advance so they can be fixed – allowing you to avoid getting hit with an ugly surprise when you least need it.

The Smart Way To Assure Backup Success

Unless your team has all the time and expertise required to consistently close all open loops in your backup system, your organization may be at risk of serious harm due to data loss. We strongly recommend that you let us perform a Backup Audit for you as soon as possible. Contact us today at {phone} or {email} to schedule this highly valuable free service – before disaster strikes.