Disaster Insurance

If there were a fire or theft at your home or place of business, could you recover all of the computer data that was lost? This includes personnel records, bank records, financial information, pictures, music, emails, customer information, and more.

Some statistics on the impact of data loss (Boston Computing):

• 31% of PC users have lost all of their files due to events beyond their control
• 60% of companies that lose their data will shut down within 6 months of the disaster
• 30% of all businesses that have a major fire go out of business within a year. 70% fail within five years. (Home Office Computing Magazine)
• Simple drive recovery can cost upwards of $7,500 and success is not guaranteed.

To successfully insure your data against a disaster, you must do two things.

1. First, backup your data. That means that you need to create a copy of all information that you need in the event of a disaster. Backups are typically stored on media such as CD-ROM, DVD-ROM, tape and external hard drives.
2. Second, move your backup media offsite. This step is critical. If a fire or theft occurs and your backup media is left onsite, you will not only lose your data but you will lose your backups also.

You should also consider automating the process by using a specialized data backup program. This will ensure that backups are not missed due to the operator forgetting to run them.

In the event of a disaster your insurance will pay to recover the hardware and software that was lost but they cannot do anything about recreating missing data. With a successful data backup program in place, your insurance will often pay for the cost of having an IT professional come in and restore your data from backups.

Roseville IT Consulting specializes in affordable data backup and disaster prevention solutions. If you have any questions or would like to schedule a review of your current backup plan.

For more information on backing up your computers safely, call Roseville IT Consulting at (916) 612-7593.