The question this article will present is simple: Does your business have a dedicated data backup and disaster recovery system? A comprehensive backup and disaster recovery platform (BDR) can turn out to be one of the most critical parts of managing a business’ IT infrastructure, and if you don’t have one, you should absolutely get one. 

With a BDR, you get the convenience of having a network attached copy of your data coupled with the redundancy you need to ensure that your data is protected. Best yet, the BDR can run automatically at preset intervals so that your company doesn’t risk losing more than 15 minutes’ worth of data. Furthermore, BDR uses the cloud to perform data backups, which provides a significantly better system for getting back in the game following a critical loss incident. The cloud allows for faster restoration times, less downtime, and more complete data backups. The cloud utilizes snapshot-based data backup, which only updates the current backup if the files have been changed, making it truly the best way to go about protecting your organization from unforeseen threats.

 For those businesses that currently operate without a data backup and recovery strategy--especially if you’ve been in business for some time--you may think that it’s just another cost that you are taking on that will hurt your business’ ability to turn a profit. You may not think you have enough data that you think is important enough to warrant additional investment in protecting it. You are probably mistaken, however. You have important data, and if you lose it, you stand to lose your business. In fact, 94 percent of businesses that fall victim to a major data loss incident fail within two years of the incident. If you consider six percent of all computers will fail in any given year, it stands to reason that it’s only a matter of time before you are dealing with a data loss catastrophe.

Keep your business out of harm’s way with a backup and disaster recovery strategy. Call Jackson Thornton Technologies today at 334-834-7660 to learn more.

If there is one thing we tell every would-be client of ours, it is that it is essential that they secure their data with a comprehensive backup and recovery system. This is not to make our lives easier or to sell products, it is a fact, and said strictly for their own benefit. Even the smallest organizations need protection against situations that could put all their staff’s hard work in jeopardy. Let’s take a look at why backup is so important.

As IT technicians that work with businesses every day, we understand that business owners and managers don’t have a lot of time to concern themselves with data backup. Despite the fact that the data is used every day, in the context of a business’ operations, backup isn’t always top of mind, until something terrible happens.

The issues that can lead to losing data are numerous, and these situations can put a major strain on your business. Something as seemingly benign as a power outage can set off a series of events that could put your whole endeavor in jeopardy. Why then continue operating your business with that amount of risk, when the solution to that problem is not only simple to set up, but relatively affordable? To answer that, first you’ll need to understand why any business owner or manager responsible for the well-being of others wouldn’t consider the facts surrounding data loss. Namely, 60 percent of businesses that experience major data loss close within six months, and 94 percent close within two years. 

Those figures are in normal times. Imagine the risk you are taking today, during a global pandemic, by not backing up your company’s data. Somewhere between six-to-eight percent of computers just up and fail every year. Can your business afford to lose data from a workstation or server failure? How about a natural disaster, a malware attack, or simple mistake gone way wrong? The answer is no. Regardless of what your business’ IT profile is, you have important data that you need to protect.

There are several backup strategies that work, but we believe that the BDR (Backup and Disaster Recovery) system is the best for the modern small business. Essentially, the BDR is a device that connects to your business’ network and backs up your data incrementally. That means that after the first full backup, the BDR will only back up the changes you and your team make to the assigned data. This provides two major benefits:

1.The backup can run more often

2.The backup process can run while your team works

These benefits ensure that more data is protected. What’s more, the BDR also uploads a copy of that data to an offsite data center. The benefit of doing this is that if something should happen to your onsite BDR device (as can happen in a disaster), your organization’s data is backed up and available for recovery. With your business’ data protected, your business is protected. It’s as simple as that.

If you would like to get started protecting your data and want to talk to one of our IT experts about Jackson Thornton Technologies' BDR offering, call us today at 334-834-7660.

It doesn’t take a deep thinker to know that your business is extremely limited without its data. There are dozens of antivirus solutions on the market for this very reason. One of the best ways to protect your digital assets is to back up data using a reliable backup platform. In today’s blog, we’ll go over a few basic considerations to make if you want a data backup that you can trust.

Secure Your Data with Multiple Backups

Your backup is more than just an insurance policy for your business operations. In the case of a disaster or other cause of data loss, your backup essentially takes your business’ place, allowing you to recover more quickly with fewer consequences. This means that your backup needs to be kept safe. The first step to doing so is to make sure your data backup is stored separately from your primary data storage. We suggest using the 3-2-1 rule, which is three total copies of your data, with two available onsite and one stored offsite. This will help you avoid a situation where the same disaster that damaged the original data wipes out your backup too. Cloud-based backups are especially effective at preserving your data in a major disaster.

Create a Disaster Recovery Strategy

How quickly could your business return to full operation after undergoing a disaster? While establishing an off-site backup to preserve your data is a good start, you also need to have a plan in place that will allow you to put that data to use as quickly as possible. This is where it is useful to have a disaster recovery strategy, as it allows you to proactively prepare for circumstances that would otherwise lead to data loss and wasted time and productivity.

Make Sure Your Backup is Working

Imagine what it would be like to go through the entire process of establishing an offsite backup, only to have it fail when you’re relying on it. Fortunately, this can be avoided through some simple tests to ensure that the backup works effectively. You’ll be happy you did if you ever find yourself in the position that you need to restore from a backup and it works.

If you can’t trust your data backup, it needs to be modified. Jackson Thornton Technologies can help. Reach out to us at 334-834-7660.

If you have been running a business for any length of time, you definitely don’t need to be told how important risk management is. One problem you see from business owners today is that while they understand just how many problems there are--and which ones they need to find solutions for first--they want to grow their company fast, and as a result, they overlook potential problems and end up hurting their business as a result. 

One of the major problems a business owner needs to confront is the situation surrounding sustained downtime. Business continuity demands a lot of assessment and a whole lot of action be taken in a short amount of time. After all, downtime is a business killer. The establishment of a continuity plan not only solves the immediate problems (e.g. a server failure), they return your business to a productive state, fast.

All businesses struggle with hiccups of continuity. Something as simple as a cloud application being down for 20 minutes can cost a company a lot of money. When downtime is sustained, however, the costs add up by the second. A business that is forced into stagnation by downtime can fail within days. 

Modern Continuity

Today’s business continuity plan is not much different than it was 50 years ago. The assets have just changed. Today, most of the assets that need to be protected are through reliable digital means. This means that if you want to look for a place to start, look at your organization’s IT. 

Like you would have done with established business continuity methods, you will want to make a list of the people who need to know if continuity is broken, and who is in charge of relaying that information down the corporate tree. Typically, there will be one person that is tasked with relaying information to department heads, and they will take it from there. Ensuring that there is a plan in place to mitigate cost in the case of sustained downtime is essential to mitigating problematic situations.

Take Action

In business continuity, action is the name of the game. Depending on the situation, after your people are informed of a breach of continuity, the next step is to mitigate the problem. Some situations are more difficult to rebound from than others, but ultimately a solid business continuity plan is an incremental approach to getting your business back up and running properly. It could take a minute or a couple of weeks, but ensuring that every mission-critical resource is covered under your plan, and that there are defined actions that need to take place will work to return operations to normal more effectively. All continuity tasks should be assigned a specific timeline for completion, with the highest priority tasks coming first.

Customer Relations

Customer care is a big part of a business’ continuity strategy. In fact, if you are dealing with a major outage, keeping your customers supported can work to stem service mutiny. You’ll need to contact your suppliers and vendors to keep other company’s supply chains from grinding to a halt. Keeping your relationships solid will alleviate one big headache if you are dealing with sustained downtime.

Technology and Data

You will want to have identified what hardware and software are essential, as well as have a good idea about how long it will take to restore your data and other systems into working condition. This also applies to any equipment that is necessary to restore operations. You’ll want to make sure that you know exactly what tools you need and the length of time that it will take to get things back up and running.

You will also want to have identified your data needs and have a data backup and recovery platform in place. Business continuity is best when your data backup is bulletproof, as being able to access all of your data quickly, and ensuring that all of your data is always backed up will make a big difference when you need it. While migration to new hardware will extend your timelines, your business can function in an acceptable capacity with the right data backup platform in place. 

Assessment, Testing, and Training

To complete your business continuity process, you will absolutely want to continue to assess and test all aspects of the platform. If you know that your BC practices are solid, you can save your business from a downtime disaster.

If you would like more specific information about business continuity, or if you would like to talk to one of our consultants about having Jackson Thornton Technologies help your business put together a BC platform that works, call us today at 334-834-7660.