With litterly 1000s of backup choices which one is right for you? Yes, I spelled it that way on purpose…lol. The Internet is littered with companies fighting for your data and your dollar. The question is… which one is right for you?
Honestly, that question has been answered many times and a quick Google search will give you a ton of options. The bigger question shouldn’t be which backup service is best but rather which recovery is best. After all, you can backup everything including the kitchen sink but if the recovery of that data doesn’t meet your needs then its worthless in the end.
Are you an individual that needs to backup some personal documents, photos, maybe some email? If so, recovery time probably is not a big deal. If it takes a few days to recover your backup photo sets, who cares.
However, if you’re a business, waiting hours, days or even weeks to recover your business data isn’t an option. Sadly, few businesses look at this aspect when choosing a backup solution. Like many others, businesses look at price as the only real factor and they assume all the backup options are the same. Nothing could be further from the truth.
Do your homework when deciding who to use for your data storage and backup solution. Many IT support providers resell these solutions and can provide local support for you. A certified partner or reseller most likely can sell you the same service as you’re going to pay if you buy it directly from the company. It only makes sense to buy from someone that can also give you superior local support. If your business systems crash, a small business owner does not have time to sit on the phone with tech support in another country for hours. It may also be a good idea to have an IT support professional setup your backups to insure they are setup properly. We have been on numerous data recovery support calls over the years and had to tell panicked clients that their backups have not been working for months or they only backed up “shortcuts” and not the actual files. A good Managed IT Support Provider can also remotely monitor your backup jobs 24×7 to insure your backups are being done. You do not want any surprises when you actually need that data back.
Think about all these things when deciding which route to take. Remember, the most important aspect of choosing a backup provider is the recovery process. It should go without saying… plan a test recovery of your data at least once or twice a year. You do not want to wait for a fire to see if your fire alarms work… neither do you want to wait for a system crash to test your backup.