It is unfortunate that many small business owners are still not aware of the importance of backing up their valuable data. Many businesses assume that if their data is located on a computer hard drive, it is safe. What they do not realize is that hard drives fail all the time, even the latest SSDs.
Damage to the hardware usually results in the data on said hard drives being almost impossible to recover. Some data may be recoverable, but all of it is rarely recovered. And even a bit of lost data can be catastrophic for a small business. It is why the need for proper data backups is very real.
Online or Physical Backups?
The main question that small business owners must answer is whether they want to go with cloud-based or physical data backups. There are pros and cons to both options, which we will illustrate below.
Advantages of Online Backups:
The entry cost is very low with online backups. Most professional online data backup solutions come with a small monthly fee. And it is possible to get an even greater discount by paying for six months or a year upfront.
Another advantage with online backups is that a major physical disaster is not going to compromise your data. As online backup services will typically backup customer data in three different locations, there is no data loss if one of those locations is physically compromised.
Advantages of Physical Backups:
The main advantage of a physical backup is that you have physical access to all your data at any moment. If there is some issue with your network, you can still access those data backups.
And many small business owners feel more secure knowing where their data is stored. They do not trust the cloud, which is why they prefer to setup physical servers in the office or store.
What is the Best Choice for Your Business?
Every small business must make its own decision about data backups. If you have the capital to set up a physical backup solution, it may be the way to go. But cloud storage is very secure and does not come with much of an entry cost.