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Averting data disaster: Small businesses keep tight rein on information they can't afford to be without
Nov 03, 2008 (The Bradenton Herald - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) --
BRADENTON
As an office manager, Brenda Schmitt knows cost-saving measures are crucial for small businesses in these tough economic times.
But cutting costs on data storage is not an option for her employer, SS-20 Building Systems, which specializes in the construction of storage, office and manufacturing facilities.
The Bradenton company can't afford to lose blueprints, construction revisions, accounting, payroll and more through a computer glitch. On a regular basis, the company saves information from its computers' hard drives to a disk that is kept in close reach for immediate access. In addition, its records are sent to a data storage center outside of Florida.
"It's kind of like insurance, you hate to have to pay for it but boy if you needed it, it would be invaluable," Schmitt said. "Obviously, when you're looking at your budgets you're looking to see what you can cut. Giving up computer safety wasn't one of them."
Information technology professionals agree data storage is not something small businesses should take lightly. Government legislation makes sure public companies and healthcare professionals are consistent with data storage. The Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 requires public companies to keep financial records for at least seven years, the HIPPA Act of 1996 requires healthcare professionals to save records a minimum of six years.
However, when it comes to small businesses, it's up to individual management at each business to ensure good data saving practices.
However, data storage standards for small businesses are often determined by what each company can afford.
"It can get pricey," said Mike Harshbarger, co-owner of Computer Renaissance in Bradenton. "What a business really needs to look at is if you lose this information, what's it going to cost your business."
Harshbarger tells companies that the three essentials for backing up data are frequency, automation and separation.
He advises businesses to back up information frequently, implement an automated tool to do that regularly and store the resource in a separate location from the main data source.
"Backing up is different for everyone," Harshbarger said. "But what it comes down to is how long is it going to take you to recover your data."
Typically, businesses pay a monthly fee for data storage based on the number of gigabytes it takes for storing.
Saving 50 gigabytes can cost at least $100 a month.
David Rouleau, owner of Every Last Detail, an interior design company in Lakewood Ranch, knows what it's like to lose business records. A computer crash caused the company to lose records on consultations and client payment schedules.
"It was very, very frustrating of course," he said. It took about three months to restore the information.
Now, Rouleau saves each day's business on CDs to avoid a similar incident.
"The longer we're in business, the longer we're behind if we don't," Rouleau said.
David Spire, co-owner of United Systems Computer Group in Bradenton, said many businesses don't realize the damage data loss can do.
"The funny thing is a good majority of businesses think they have it under control," Spire said.
A business that experiences a major data loss, Spire said, has about a 50 percent chance of folding within two years of the loss.
"A good business continuity plan is important," Spire said.
U.S. Computer Group provides businesses with on-site data storage via a zip drive and off-site storage in which electronic records are transferred outside of Florida.
With an electronic transfer of records, Spire said U.S. Computer Group provides encryption protection, which scrambles the data while it is electronically transferred so if it is intercepted by a hacker it cannot be understood.
"When it comes to HIPPA and Sarbanes-Oxley, it's important in offsite transfers to have that secure import tunnel," Spire said. "But that provides a piece of mind for everyone."
To see more of The Bradenton Herald or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to
http://www.bradenton.com. Copyright (c) 2008, The Bradenton Herald, Fla.
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