You’re sitting at a traffic signal when you notice a smoke-puffing 1989 Chevy sitting by the side of the road with the hood up. As you glance over, you may think to yourself, “what a junker!” But to the pizza delivery dude staring at the engine compartment and scratching his head, this car is a “strategic asset.” He uses it to both advertise his business, and deliver his product. Once you realize that fact, you begin to wonder… if that old Chevy is a strategic asset to the pizza entrepreneur, why doesn’t he take better care of it, since without it he’ll be delivering those pies on foot, or more likely out of business.
I’m sure you can quickly identify the strategic assets that your organization uses to attract customers and deliver products or services. If you own computer systems, they would naturally be on the list. But you must also consider the value of the information stored in bits & bytes on each computer’s disk drive. When forced to think about it, most organizations would have to agree that their data is one of their most valuable strategic assets. But the paradox is, they don’t treat it like a strategic asset. Because the data is out of sight, hidden in the file structure of the disk, it’s easy to ignore. Additionally, most organizations are very busy working on other high-priority issues, such as building products, serving customers, managing employees, and earning a buck or two! Just like the pizza dude. As a result, a data backup plan doesn’t get the attention it deserves until it’s too late; until something terrible happens. Just like the pizza dude.
Every organization that uses computer equipment and owns valuable data needs to develop a proper data backup strategy to prevent the loss of vital information in the event of fire, flood, hardware failure, theft -- or simple user error! Once a backup plan has been put in place, it only requires a few minutes each day for a disciplined person to monitor the system, log their activity, and if needed, swap the media for offsite storage. The hard part is determining what the best backup solution is for you and your organization. The solution will consist of hardware/media, software, and documentation. The selection of the proper components will be determined by your needs. The hardware/media will typically be a removable or external hard disk drive, or tape drive. The selection of the software will be guided by choices such as the need to backup open files, the desire to backup multiple workstations, the ability to create disaster recovery disks, etc. And the documentation, which is a critical component, will need to spell out your schedule for data backups, steps needed to recover critical files, a plan for periodic maintenance of the system, and a backup log.
Once a solution is designed, the second hard part is “investing” the money needed to acquire it. To help justify the cost, imagine yourself in this situation: Your computer screen is black. You press the power button on the PC but nothing happens. There is burning electrical smell in the air. You are suddenly overcome with a sick feeling in the pit of our stomach – just like the pizza dude – as you begin to realize that you are about to have a bad day! Your PC is dead and your precious data may be lost! You’ve suddenly become stranded on the shoulder of “Commerce Road,” watching as your competition whizzes by. What will you do next? How will you cope?
All of this can be avoided with some wise planning and a small capital investment. Since we’ve already determined that this effort is critical to the well being of your organization, cutting corners to save a nickel should be out of the question. Consider hiring an IT Consultant for a few hours to help design the system, select the best products, and implement the solution. It will be worth every penny!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Posts
