With businesses getting to the point where they could no longer operate if certain data sets were even temporarily unavailable, increasing reliance on data is creating new risks. These risks are especially pertinent for smaller businesses, which often do not have the financial and human resources to recover from a serious data loss.
When it comes to data loss, prevention is definitely better than a cure. In fact, once data is gone, a cure is often not an option at all.
Losing valuable data is easy, but luckily, protecting it doesn't have to be hard
There are countless ways data can vanish in an instant, from natural disaster to cyber-attack or even theft. More commonly, something as simple as employee complacency or a power outage can put your operations out of action, and not always just temporarily.
Human error is an inevitable part of any business' operations, and often it is employees that can accidentally become the source of serious data loss. On top of this, with 80 per cent of Australians expected to be using smartphones by 2018, on-the-go data access is something employees demand. Whether stored on a mobile phone, an employee's desktop or email account, on a USB or a file sharing application, crucial company data is left vulnerable.
When data is unavailable, business is slow
Customers in the digital age demand exceptional speed and efficiency from the companies they choose to work with, and expect a seamless experience. Additionally, sales teams are using and viewing customer data regularly, whether to ensure pricing and purchase orders are handled in a timely manner, or as a necessary part of guaranteeing support is provided in real-time. In this landscape, data loss is a serious issue as customers can be lost permanently if subject to unexpected delays or mishaps.
Finally, sophisticated data management and business intelligence solutions mean that highly useful consumer insights can be gained from stored data. Increasingly, the loss of this data can be the difference between a business that truly understands its customers, and one that is in the dark.
Backup and recovery is changing, with the cloud as a driving force
The benefits of cloud computing for SMBs have long been a popular topic for discussion. The cloud can work wonders to reduce costs, simplify asset management and offer greater flexibility than on-premise storage alone. However, there can be financial, stability and security drawbacks to an all-cloud solution; monthly fees can sometimes overtake the purchase price, latency can prevent access to data at crucial times, and most importantly, data stored on someone else's hardware can be compromised.
As a result, SMBs are increasingly looking for hybrid solutions that let them manage their local storage devices and browse content from anywhere, without compromising the security and privacy of knowing they have total control. For important and frequently accessed data, a local storage infrastructure is, and will continue to be, an important element of the overall system, however the cloud is offering new ways for businesses to dramatically increase utilisation and ROI on their data storage and backups.
When it comes to data loss, prevention is definitely better than a cure. In fact, once data is gone, a cure is often not an option at all.
Losing valuable data is easy, but luckily, protecting it doesn't have to be hard
There are countless ways data can vanish in an instant, from natural disaster to cyber-attack or even theft. More commonly, something as simple as employee complacency or a power outage can put your operations out of action, and not always just temporarily.
Human error is an inevitable part of any business' operations, and often it is employees that can accidentally become the source of serious data loss. On top of this, with 80 per cent of Australians expected to be using smartphones by 2018, on-the-go data access is something employees demand. Whether stored on a mobile phone, an employee's desktop or email account, on a USB or a file sharing application, crucial company data is left vulnerable.
When data is unavailable, business is slow
Customers in the digital age demand exceptional speed and efficiency from the companies they choose to work with, and expect a seamless experience. Additionally, sales teams are using and viewing customer data regularly, whether to ensure pricing and purchase orders are handled in a timely manner, or as a necessary part of guaranteeing support is provided in real-time. In this landscape, data loss is a serious issue as customers can be lost permanently if subject to unexpected delays or mishaps.
Finally, sophisticated data management and business intelligence solutions mean that highly useful consumer insights can be gained from stored data. Increasingly, the loss of this data can be the difference between a business that truly understands its customers, and one that is in the dark.
Backup and recovery is changing, with the cloud as a driving force
The benefits of cloud computing for SMBs have long been a popular topic for discussion. The cloud can work wonders to reduce costs, simplify asset management and offer greater flexibility than on-premise storage alone. However, there can be financial, stability and security drawbacks to an all-cloud solution; monthly fees can sometimes overtake the purchase price, latency can prevent access to data at crucial times, and most importantly, data stored on someone else's hardware can be compromised.
As a result, SMBs are increasingly looking for hybrid solutions that let them manage their local storage devices and browse content from anywhere, without compromising the security and privacy of knowing they have total control. For important and frequently accessed data, a local storage infrastructure is, and will continue to be, an important element of the overall system, however the cloud is offering new ways for businesses to dramatically increase utilisation and ROI on their data storage and backups.
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