Top 10 Reasons SMBs Fail to Back Up Their Data

Loss of data ranks as a “worst nightmare” for businesses of any size, but for SMBs data loss can be especially catastrophic: FEMA even estimates that 40 to 60 percent of SMBs never re-open after a data disaster. So, considering the threat of natural disasters, hardware/software failures, and worker recklessness leading to catastrophic data loss, why do some SMBs still fail to back up their data? Matthew Dornquast, CEO of Code 42 Software shared with me this list of the top 10 reasons SMBs fail to back up their data.

Excuse #1: It costs too much

Actually, with a wide selection of options on market, data backup has become increasingly affordable when it comes to protecting your company's files. More important, compared with the costs of data loss (expenses related to loss of productivity, decreased quality, disk recovery costs, lost intellectual property, and so on), backup solutions are one of the most cost-effective decisions you can make. With some backup solutions, customers can recover their yearly costs by restoring data from just one laptop.

Excuse #2: It takes too much time to manage

There are backup solutions that run automatically and continuously without requiring any intervention from the user. SMBs can set up an account and then let it run in the background and forget about it.

Excuse #3: It isn't worth the effort to back up

Even businesses with the most tangible of services have important information on their computers. While important documents and financial records might exist in other forms (emails or paper files, for example), tracking down your work can still take a lot of time. When deadlines loom, it may be time that you cannot spare. Even if you find the lost files, they might not be the correct version, or they might be damaged by a virus or otherwise inaccessible.

Excuse #4: It slows down my computers!

Most good high-performing backup software runs automatically and continuously without slowing you down, even on laptops. Technologies like data deduplication and incremental backups reduce demand on CPU resources, network bandwidth, and storage costs.

Excuse #5: It’s not important

If you've never suffered the effects of data loss, you might not realize the catastrophic consequences that can result. In some cases, in can lead to the demise of a business! Without backup, a business might have to curtail operations until data is restored, something from which the business might never recover financially. With backup and the ability to quickly restore lost files, a business can continue to thrive without skipping a beat.

Excuse #6: It won't happen to me

Data loss events happen more frequently than you'd like to think. They can be the result of human error (forgetting a laptop in a cab, accidentally deleting a file, saving over the wrong file), natural disasters, theft, viruses, hardware failure (sometimes also due to human error); all can result in the loss of data. Having automatic, continuous backup is like insurance you buy, hoping you'll never need it, but relieved to have when (not if) something unfortunate happens.

Excuse #7: I forgot!

While there are numerous backup solutions that require users to remember or make time to do so, there are also others that are automatic and continuous. These allow SMBs to focus on their business, not on remembering to back up their data.

Excuse #8: It’s too complicated

While this may have been the case in the “old days,” when backup required tape and complicated schemes for backing up the backup and for testing and verifying the backup archive, it is certainly no longer true. Today, backup solutions are able to be set up quickly, with no technical expertise required, and then forgotten about. For the most part, SMBs can even restore all by themselves without a call to the Help desk or a backup service to get their files back.

Excuse #9: I’ll just use a data recovery service if things crash

Data recovery services are useful only when you have a computer to recover. They are no use at all if your laptop is lost or stolen. Also, these services are notoriously expensive (costing in the thousands of dollars), with no guarantees that all, if any, of your data will be recovered. And how will your business limp along without your files in the weeks it could take to get your files back? Why chance it?

Excuse #10: I copy files to a thumb drive

Copying is not the same a backing up (it's much more cumbersome and is an inefficient use of storage). Also, if something happens to that drive, it's as if you never backed up at all. That's why there are backup solutions that offer the ability to back up online (for secure offsite protection) and to local drives (for rapid restores).