How Does Data Loss Impact My Business?

How_Data_Loss_Impacts_Your_Business

Why Does Your Business Need To Backup Data?

Every day you and your staff create data in the form of webpages or text documents that you use to improve your business. Creating data takes time and money that cannot be replaced. In the event of data loss not only do you lose data, you lose the time and money you invested. To resume business, you will need to invest more time and money into recreating the data again.

Backing up data ensures in the event of data loss there is a spare copy of your files. Instead of recreating documents from scratch it’s easier to restore from the most updated backup. Saving time and money as you only need to apply updates to documents instead of recreating.

How Does Data Loss Impact My Business?

Disrupts Productivity

Businesses that don’t have plans in place in the event of data loss will suffer a disruption in productivity ultimately leading to reduced profits. Certain documents are used on a daily basis by more than one employee to complete specific tasks. In the event of data loss these documents will no longer be available till recreated. During this period employees will be unable to complete their daily tasks. Employees working on recreating lost data could have been working on other projects instead.
Data loss disrupts productivity within businesses. Simply having a data loss plan with a backup system will minimise the disruption to your employee’s productivity.

Damages Reputation

Data loss can have a negative impact on your business’s reputation. For a start many clients may notice that your business has experienced data loss. This can affect trust built with these clients as they may view your business as unreliable. If your business stores data on behalf of clients your clients expect you to ensure the data is never lost. If you lose client data, your clients will be impacted negatively. This will result in clients leaving your service impacting your businesses cash flow.

Loss Of Sales

Data loss has the ability to impact sales and conversions rates for businesses. Data ensures businesses operates smoothly in order to generate sales. In the event of data loss certain businesses may be unable to operate till data is restored. For e-commerce websites data loss can result in an unusable website for clients. If this occurs users will no longer be able to surf your products or make purchases until data is restored. During the period of time taken to restore data your business could have made sales. As a result of data loss your business experienced a loss of sales.

Permanent Shutdown

As a result of extreme data loss 94% of company’s fold. This occurs when a backup plan has not been setup by the business. When a business experiences data loss it can take weeks to resume operations. During this period employees still require payment however the business is not generating income. Many businesses end up using their available capital before data is restored resulting in the business going bust.

How Is Data Lost

Preventing data loss is as important as ensuring data is backed up. Data can be lost due to a number of factors from human error to hardware failure. Being aware of factors that result in data loss can help to reduce the risk of data loss.

Hard Drive Failure

A hard drive is a piece of hardware used to store data. A Hard drive uses mechanical aspects to read and write data to a storage platter. Anything mechanical will fail over a period of time due to ware and tare.
Reliable hosting providersensure hard drives are replaced before failing. If you maintain your own hard drives it is important to monitor performance. A decrease in performance is a key indication the hard drive is close to failure. At this point it is recommended to transfer data to a new hard drive before the old one fails. Hard drives can fail due to physical damage, for example: dropping the hard drive. It is important to ensure hard drives are handled with care to ensure accidental damage does not occur.
If a hard drive fails, there is a chance data will not be lost. This depends on the condition of the storage plate. Unfortunately, data cannot be read and is trapped in a broken hard drive. If this occurs there are many data recover services available that attempt to extract data from broken hard drives. Data recovery can be an expensive option with no guarantee of success.

Hard Drive Formatting

Hard drives can be reset to factory default by formatting. Formatting will remove all files stored on the hard drive. It is important to ensure you NEVER format your hard drive by mistake.
Certain applications and software require a hard drive to be formatted before installation. It is important to select the correct storage device for these applications to ensure you do not accidentally install to a hard drive you are currently using for data.

Power Outage’s

Data can be lost as a result of a power outage. A study conducted in 2014 found that 20% of companies that have experience data loss was a direct result of unexpected power outages which cost between $50,000 and $5million. Using a reliable hosting provider reduces this risk. Reliable providers hire teams who monitor servers to ensure power outages do not occur.
If you maintain your own server or network, it is important to ensure you have a plan in the event of power outages. Its is recommended to use a generator that will kick in when a power outage occurs to ensure your network doesn’t turn off resulting in data being lost. Using a generator, you can manually shutdown your network ensuring all data is saved until power is restored.

Human Error

Humans are humans after all, and we all make mistakes. You or your employees could accidentally delete data without noticing. If this occurs the next employee will be unable to find the data when required. Having a backup of data ensures in this situation you can restore documents with ease.

Malicious Access and Malware

Protecting your network from malware and unauthorised access is an important aspect of security. Viruses have the potential to delete important data, even worse data could be stolen. Stolen data can be used to commit fraud against your business or your clients resulting in finacle damage.
Employee login details could be exposed resulting in unauthorised access to your network from an unknown user. If an unknown user gains access to your network data can be stolen, deleted or edited depending on their motivation. Keeping employees happy reduces the risk of an employee going rouge. Rouge employees still have access to your network and have the potential to cause internal damage to your business. To reduce the amount of damage unauthorised users or rouge employees can do it is important to limit the access accounts have. Only grant accounts access to data required for employees to work, there is no need to give all employees full access to your network. Backing up your network regularly ensures in the event of this occurring you can resume business.

How can i prevent data loss?

Anti-Virus

To prevent your network becoming infected with malware and viruses that can cause data loss it is highly recommended to invest in a good anti-virus system. A good anti-virus system will ensure your network is safeguarded from maliciousness connections.

Create and Update Backups

In the event of data loss, you need to ensure your business has a plan to reduce downtime. Backing up data is a great way to ensure you have a spare copy of all files your business requires. It is recommended to backup your data every day to ensure your backup doesn’t become outdated. Having the most updated data backed up ensures in the event of data loss you can quickly replace files to keep downtime at a minimal.