According to Jon Toigo, a data storage and technology expert and author of numerous books on disaster recovery planning, if you lose your data, you can lose your business. "A company denied access to its business data for longer than 48 hours is very likely to never recover fully from an outage. Those that take longer than four days to restore their data to an accessible form tend to be out of business within a year."

Avoid losing your data by implementing a back-up system.

To protect data, experts recommend making a back-up and moving the media to an off-site storage facility.

• Know How To Store Data
  Find the right data storage solution for your business based on the importance and quantity of data you need to protect, the timeframe for restoration and, of course, your budget. Here are two options:
  • Copy data to removable media, including DVD-R or CD-R discs, tapes or to removable disk drives that connect to systems via their USB ports. For more than 50 percent of the small businesses that responded to the Office Depots survey, this is the preferred data storage solution.
  • For larger volumes of data that require quick restoration, look for specialized software for continuous data copy, or use an e-vaulting company to which you can send your data electronically for secure back-up and storage.


• Back-Up Data On A Regular Schedule
  To protect your business from faltering after a disaster, you will want to:
  • Back-up your key data at least every week. If you don't have a tape back-up system, make copies of your most important data on CDs, portable disk drives that quickly connect to your computer's USB port, or even to a laptop.
  • Take a copy of your software used to make back-ups to a secure off-site location. Follow these guidelines:
    • Don't leave your back-ups sitting next to your systems. If a disaster hits, you don't want to lose both your data and the back-up.
    • Move back-up media to a secured, alternate or off-site location.
    • Establish a routine back-up system to ensure the most current data is retained.
    • Make sure to mark the media with content and dates.
  • Store copies of key forms and hard copy documents you use day-to-day at a safe location to help keep your business functioning.
    • A simple consultation with your operations people will guide you to critical application software and documents you should protect.
    • Scan critical documents (e.g., insurance) for electronic storage.
    • Include photos of major building and manufacturing sites, protected in watertight storage containers and stored in a fireproof safe, in case you need to present these materials to your insurers.
    • Periodically review the data being stored to ensure that the right data is being copied and that it can be restored.