photo courtesy of NightRPStar, Roman Pinzon_Soto, from Flickr Creative Commons
Recently I decided, for my small business to thrive, I needed to get a lot smarter. Specifically, I needed to quit avoiding new technologies and embrace them. Or at least figure out which ones fit my lifestyle and business model. I also needed to focus on sound work practices and some old-fashioned technologies like a manageable file system. Here’s the best of what works for me, some things that didn’t work at all, and some links to take you further. This series will cover:
- Backup systems — on- and off-site tools
- Best Basic Apps — for a smooth running office
- Email — rethink your email system
- Email — build a list and check it twice
- Email — making email work for you.
Best Backup System
Let’s begin with your company’s most valuable asset: your data. I just discovered my office backup system had holes in it — big ones. At some point I transferred some large document files onto CDs to keep with my clients’ other paper files. Last week I needed one of those documents and discovered the CD-RW disc had lost it’s mojo. Everything gone. Turns out all magnetic media have a finite shelf life — the better ones longer than others but none as long as you hope.
After surveying the literature and biz practices of people I admire, I’ve come up with is a combo system for on- and off-site file storage. The critical premise is that until your data is physically stored in at least two different places, it won’t really be secure.
More and more people are turning to off-site and Internet-based storage solutions. The arguments for such a system are these: in the event of theft, fire or flood, your documents are safe with someone else. The arguments against are that the company you trust with your data may get hit by the same storm, suddenly go out of business (without getting in touch), or have a fatal system crash. Still, most experts agree a second file storage site provides the optimum safety net.
Here are some options:
- A local computer services or data storage firm. Ideally with a company you trust and can keep an eye on. In Houston, MarNoble Computer Services is a small, woman-owned firm that’s been in business over twenty years. You can find a firm near you by searching Google for: city name] + “backup services.” Best solution for a small to mid-sized company is probably a network-attached system (NAS). When talking to potential vendors, don’t let them oversell you more system than you need. Get two or three opinions before you decide. And with all of them, ask for client references from firms similar in size or product to your own; and be sure to check them out with your local Better Business Bureau.
- Internet backup systems. A great many of these, as it turns out, feed into file storage belonging to Amazon Web Services, owned by Amazon.com. Amazon also handles file services for SlideShare, Twitter, and other large volume Internet ventures. Key thing to look for: encryption capability. If you’re putting your data out on the Web, this is just a smart precaution. After reading countless reviews (by business bloggers and by editors of Forbes Small Business, CNET, Entrepreneur and others), I like the look of the three below. Expect them all to run around $60 a year for a fairly small firm; more if you have multiple users or workstations.
If you want to explore more alternatives before deciding, check out the reviews below.
- Online Data Backup Review by Top Ten Reviews — offers helpful, side-by-side ratings by both editors and users, to include security and customer service.
The system I came up with is a combination of on- and off-line backups — going back to the wisdom of having redundant systems, physically separated. I use:
- Windows Backup — came with Vista, configurable through the Control Panel, onto a 300GB external hard drive, continuously connected to my PC via USB cable. Turns out, backing up my PC, two other laptops and my children’s considerable music and photo collection, I’ve still only used some 60GB. So, whatever my reasons for transferring files to CDs, it wasn’t very smart. My system backs up twice weekly and I have multiple previous backups to restore from. If I were doing a lot of video, I’d probably buy a 2nd external drive just for those. And, when I’m working on a large client project, I set up backups for daily until the work is completed.Two third-party backup applications (free) that have gotten good reviews from CNET are FBackup 4.4.213 and Easeus Todo Backup 1.1.
- I chose Jungle Disk for my off-site, Internet-based backup — due, in part, to the advice of Erica Douglass, from her post You’re Backing Up Your Data the Wrong Way. Here’s what I back up: my entire Users folders for my PC and two business laptops. If you have data in other files, within Program directories for example, you’d want to back up those as well. I moved all those into my Documents folder some time ago.
And finally, if you’d like to read more about the nuances of backups — and their critical importance — check out these wise advisors:
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