Planning for Computer Recovery - Ignorance or Bliss

70 per cent of small businesses go belly up within a year of suffering a major loss of data. - Joanna Pachner, Globe and Mail, May 16, 2007
Deep down, you know that regular computer backup is the responsible and prudent action that could one day save your business from the utter chaos of a major data loss. You know this. But even so, you put off getting a reliable computer backup system in place and continue to cross your fingers, hoping for the best. All the while, with each passing day you store more and more of your business critical information on your computer s vulnerable hard drive.
When it comes to planning for data recovery, ignorance is the opposite of bliss. Let s take a closer look at how you re neglecting your computer backup and then at a few simple strategies for protecting the future of your business.
How You re Neglecting Your Computer Backup
You use a computer every day to organize, grow and operate your business, but you can t remember the last time you made a backup of the information stored on your computer.
You don t know how to perform a backup, but you have an IT guy that you think backs up your computer from time to time. You re not sure how often he does the backup, and you re not sure what happens to the backup once he s completed it. Does he take it home? Does it get transferred to another external hard drive in your office? No, he leaves the backup CD on top of the computer, so that when your office is robbed, the CD is stolen with the computer. (Repeat outcome for fire and flooding.)
You or your IT person perform a backup of your computer system on the first day of every month and store it safely offsite. If your computer crashes on the last day of the previous month, having to recreate 30 or 31 days of hard work would be a complete nightmare, but so far you ve been lucky.
Your assistant backs up all of your computers every Friday afternoon to CDs, which she then puts into her purse to take home. The information is unencrypted, but she s been with you for years and she s practically part of the family. On her way home, she stops at the grocery store to pick up a few things, and as she s loading her purchases into her trunk her purse is stolen from the front of her shopping cart. As she already has her car keys in hand to open the trunk, she doesn t even realize that her purse is missing until she arrives home. Now your private information (and the private information of your client base) is available to complete strangers, who also happen to be criminals.
How You Can Act Now to Protect Your Business
Recognize that your time is a non-renewable resource, and therefore the time spent working on your computer is extremely valuable. Protect that investment by backing up your computer every day.
Ask yourself: how much time do I spend working on my computer every day? Is it 4 hours, 6 hours, or perhaps even 8-10 hours? How would you feel if your computer crashed and you lost an entire day s worth of progress? How about a week s or a month s worth of progress? If these are unacceptable scenarios for your business, you need to get serious about computer backup and recovery.
Train a second and third person to perform a complete backup. This way, if you are out of the office for any reason, two other people can step in to backup your computers.
Personally store a copy of your recent backup offsite, in a secure location like a safety deposit box. If your IT person is copying your backup to an external drive that resides in your office, have them also make a CD version that you can take offsite.
The best way to ensure that your computer backup is completed every day, encrypted, and securely stored offsite, is to use a reputable online data backup and recovery service to automatically backup and securely store your information. These services are inexpensive, reliable and managed by digital storage experts.When you re planning the future of your business, don t neglect the importance of daily, offsite computer backup. Because being able to recover all of your information after a frightening computer crash or theft is pure business bliss.Copyright 2007 - Blue Melnick. All Rights Reserved Worldwide. Reprint Rights: You may reprint this article as long as you leave all of the links active, do not edit the article in any way, and include the following byline:
Blue Melnick is the Co-Founder and Lead Storage Specialist of Virtual Tape Drive Canada. Blue invites you to contact him through www.vtdcanada.com or by phone at 416-462-3323. Not sure if online data backup is right for you? Why not sign up for Biz Link News Blue s free monthly ezine to learn more about how this new technology can save your business?



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Take Advantage of Free Spyware Removal Tools

With so many people using the Internet and, depending on the Internet for information and education for work, many computers are at risk of catching viruses. A virus can do anything from simply putting a bug in your computer that can confuse " " areas of the hard disk and make things run less well. A virus can also destroy larger areas of your memory. This type of thing can be totally disastrous if you store private information on your PC or if you are maintaining programs and data that are important to you. In most cases, the only thing to do if you get a pc virus is to wipe the hard drive and reinstall all your programs once again.
Spy ware is different from a virus, but may have the same effect. Many people deal with spy ware on your computer out that the system is much slower and that takes time to open programs or run programs. If your computer used to run smoothly and not more (suddenly), you should run a program detect spy ware. This type of program can find spyware and remove it for you in your system.
The best thing to do is to run a free spy ware removal tool. These programs can be downloaded online and installed on your computer. Companies such as Microsoft have developed powerful tools spyware and there is a program called Spysweeper very effective. These programs must be updated every so often and usually this process occurs automatically. Spyware removal tool will detect for updates to be downloaded every time you use the software. Run a spy ware check on a regular basis and your computer will run smoothly again. Clear your cache of your Internet browser. This is where many spy ware bugs are stored.
Written by Donald Spearson. Find the latest Free Spyware removal tool, and a tool of Free Spyware removal.



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How to select the right CRM package

Selection software packages can be very complicated. It often requires you to re-engineer its business processes, human resources and operational systems to achieve the desired results. When selecting an application that is its direct interface with customers, it is increasingly imperative to adopt a systematic approach to packaging and vendor selection. The luxury of channeling financial resources to correct initial errors can not be an option, especially for small businesses. Let& 39;s look in more detail how to go about selecting the right product and service providers. Needs Assessment: All levels of its organization and all services should be involved in this process. This is important not only to recognize departmental objectives, but also to communicate the importance of the CRM initiative. Budget: Be sure to look beyond the cost hidden costs for items such as licences, hardware and other infrastructure. These may include the costs of implementation, training employees and customers, companies re-engineering, increased service requirements and suppliers of infrastructure internal IT support. Implementation: This system involves tasks such as installation, the printer installations, user settings, training and system of preliminary tests. While planning, keep in mind the importance of effective implementation. Many companies do not get the expected results, a CRM solution simple fact defective execution by the vendor. Take cross references and check the rates of success before deployments made by their short-listed vendors. You may also consider the implementation of a purchase OEM and having it run by a specialist provider. Functional and Technical Considerations: Ensure that the product considered both a functional and usability perspective. Functionality will tell you what a product can do usability and tells you how it is user-friendly. Some other considerations may be: Scalability - as the volume of data that can handle Supported communication channels - such as telephone, WAP and SMS Interoperability - such as the ability to import and export data and other applications Help features - ample resources of self-help during implementation and future advanced learning Support: Product support refers to both functional and technical support. Negotiate both as a package. If you are using several consultants for the product and implementation of IT infrastructure, be sure to clearly define the responsibilities and seller accountability.
Business Buying Guide



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