Your computer support provider should urge you to break these bad habits!

Admit it; some of you have some bad habits when it comes to maintaining the security and “health” of the high-tech tools you dearly depend on. Since it’s a fresh, new year, we thought it would be appropriate to point out the top 5 bad habits you should work on fixing in 2012.

1. Not backing up your data. Funny how most people start their confession of not backing up their data with the words, “I know it’s bad, but…” If you know, then why are you still doing it? There’s absolutely no good reason to let this one continue.  Your IT support provider should INSIST you be doing this. As well they should be testing it monthly to make sure it’s always working so you’re not surprised when you need to rely on a backup.  

2.  Relying on tape drives to backup your data. This is almost as bad as bad habit #1. Why? Because tape drives have an average failure rate of 100% – and that’s not a typo. It’s not a matter of “if” but “when” is your tape drive going to fail. Trash ’em and get a better system in place!  Your computer support provider should warn you about the risks of tape drives. 

3. Using weak passwords. If you’ve ever used the word “password” as your password, we’re talking to you! A good password should contain a combination of numbers and upper and lower case letters.

4.  Not installing the latest security patches and software updates. Once a new patch is released by a software vendor, it acts like a green light for hackers who instantly implement viruses and scams to take advantage of those individuals who don’t regularly update (patch) their system.  As part of our Managed IT service plans, we take care of this for our clients so they don’t have to worry about it.

5. Printing and storing paper documents for everything. The cost of installing a document imaging (also called document management) solution has come down dramatically, and it is now easier than ever to implement. Plus you get the added benefits of saved storage space, saved time in searching for documents, instant access to any paper file via the Internet, fewer lost files, less chance of losing critical documents to fire, water, or wear and tear, AND a cost saving on paper and ink. With all these benefits, why would you still stick a paper filing system?

Want help in breaking any of these bad habits in your Toronto business? Contact Joe Stoll at JStoll@TechnicalActionGroup.com or 416-489-6312 x 204 for a no-obligation, no-pressure consultation on how we can help you break these bad high-tech habits for good!

A good Toronto managed IT services plan should offer a disaster recovery service.

You’ll recall a few months back tornados ripped through Joplin, MO and Tuscaloosa, Alabama causing massive devastation. The fortunate ones only had to suffer through minor interruptions of utility services, with others paying a far steeper price.

In fact, a fellow member of my Managed IT Services master mind group that meets in Nashville on a quarterly basis had his office in Joplin reduced to a pile of rubble.  That was his office in the photo.  Thankfully as a computer support provider he practiced what he preached and was prepared for such a disaster.  While he endured the inherent difficulties in rebuilding, he had a disaster recovery solution in place that allowed him to resume business from another location in 36 hours, and continue to service those of his clients that had the same recovery plans in place. 

This is a perfect reminder and excuse for me to harp (as I’m known to do on this topic, and so too shoud your computer support provider) about the importance of disaster recovery planning to any business.  Sure, as Canadians we don’t face risk from tornadoes and hurricanes (though hurricanes are becoming more common outside of Toronto), but we are not immune from the destruction caused by fire, flood, theft, and employee error—any of which can shut your doors without a proper recovery plan in place.

No one expects terrible things to happen, but when they do, having that plan in place can really save your bacon. And one of the MOST important aspects of this is the recovery part – how are you going to get that data back onto a working platform that allows you to continue serving your customers and operating your business.  The shocker for most business owners is that simply having a copy of the data does NOT guarantee a fast recovery. Let me give you an analogy to help you understand…

Let’s suppose we put a disaster recovery plan for your home. Your house would represent the server and platform, and all your furniture and personal items would be the data. Now let’s suppose we could make a backup of your home by making an exact copy of everything that’s in your house (all your furniture, appliances, clothing, etc.) and storing it in a “backup” shed. Then the unthinkable happens: your house gets leveled by fire or destroyed by flood and everything is gone (or a critical part of it is damaged and needs to be replaced). Or all your contents are stolen.  You would think, “Well, at least I have a copy!” True, but the first thing you would need to do is replace the home itself (remember, that’s the platform that everything resides on).

Next you would have to “reinstall” the services like gas, electricity and water (let’s call that the software). Then you would have to haul everything from the shed back to the house and “reformat” it by arranging it into the house. Depending on the extent of the damage done to your house, that could take days or weeks; chances are you’d have to find a hotel to live out of in the meantime. In addition, there’s the time and cost of moving everything back in and re-arranging and restoring everything to its proper place.

Plus, the above assumes you have a recent, working copy of your entire home and everything in it. If you failed to make a copy – or if the shed where you were storing everything had a water leak that destroyed everything inside due to mold – then you’re really out of luck. 

Of course, this is a simple analogy – and there are ways to back up your data and network so that recovery can happen inexpensively in a matter of hours versus days or weeks. But if you simply think having a tape backup is going to be your saving grace, you might be unpleasantly surprised. I can’t tell you the number of businesses who ended up losing incredibly valuable, irreplaceable data because they didn’t think through the RECOVERY part of the backup equation.

 So what do you need to think about? First, the way you backup your data as part of the backup services you buy, should be based on how important your data is and how fast you would need to be back up and running in the event of a disaster. If losing your data would only be a mild inconvenience and you could stand to be down for a couple of days, then tape backups may be okay. If that’s not an option for you and there are certain critical functions that need to happen to keep you from getting into hot water with your customers and to prevent you losing a LOT of cash, then you want something more reliable than tape drives.

NEXT STEPS:  Call a professional IT services Toronto company that offers a backup and disaster recovery service that can get your business back up and running within only THREE HOURS of a catastrophic failure with your server.  Any managed IT services company in Toronto should incorporate a plan that includes the points above.

Your backup service provider should be monitoring your backups 24/7 and testing them monthly. A disaster recovery plan is also important.

     The old saying, “Pack your own parachute,” comes to mind when I think of data backups or, more specifically, data RECOVERY. However, how many people actually know how to pack their proverbial data backup “parachute” and instead rely on someone else – be it an employee or vendor?

     If that’s you, read on. Since the absolute WORST time to check your backups is AFTER a data disaster, all company owners ought to know the answers to the following questions NOW so they can, with their IT support provider, create a disaster recovery plan so they aren’t unpleasantly surprised later when data gets erased and they’re scrambling to get back up and running:

1.   Where EXACTLY is your data being backed up, and how do you get access to it? If it’s being hosted in a remote place, you ought to have the account information and a direct contact you can call if your vendor or employee goes missing with this information. Ideally, it should be in your network documentation that is kept in your operations manual or somewhere you can easily access it if necessary.

2.   Who’s responsible for monitoring the backups to make sure they are working? When data is lost, the finger pointing starts. It’s not uncommon to hear, “Well I thought (they/he/she) was in charge of our backups!” only to discover that this person (be it a vendor or employee) actually has no idea that they had such an important responsibility. Keep in mind that many offsite backup companies allow you to store your data there, but they won’t agree to ANY responsibility for whether or not the data is being backed up correctly, completely or in a format that can be restored.

3.   How often do you run a test restore? The only way to know if your backups are working properly is to conduct a test restore or “fire drill” of your data.  Your computer support provider can do this for you.   We recommend running this once a month at a minimum to verify that you can actually restore from your backups in an emergency.

4.   If your data is lost, what’s the process required to restore it? Some business owners don’t realize that their raw data backups would take a LOT longer to restore than they imagine. If you are not “imaging” your data (a process that takes a snapshot of your server as is) you will have to reload all of your software, set up the network, reconfigure your settings and THEN restore the data – a process that can take the better part of a week PROVIDED you still have your original software discs and licenses.

As part of a managed IT services plan, your  IT support provider should INSIST on asking you the above questions, and doing all things necessary to ensure sure your data is being religiously backed up as part of the backup services they provide.  Also they should insist on an iron clad disaster recovery plan that will get your business back up and running within 3 hours in the event of a catastrophic failure with your server.

1. Not backing up your data.  Funny how most people start their confession of not backing up their data with the words, “I know it’s bad, but…” If you know, then why are you still doing it? There’s absolutely no good reason to let this one continue. 

2. Relying on tape drives to backup your data. This is almost as bad as bad habit #1. Why? Because tape drives have an average failure rate of 100% – and that’s not a typo. It’s not a matter of “if” but “when” is your tape drive going to fail. Trash ’em and get a better system in place!

3. Using weak passwords. If you’ve ever used the word “password” as your password, we’re talking to you! A good password should contain a combination of numbers and upper and lower case letters.

4. Not installing the latest security patches and software updates. Once a new patch is released by a software vendor, it acts like a green light for hackers who instantly implement viruses and scams to take advantage of those individuals who don’t regularly update (patch) their systems.

5.  Printing and storing paper documents for everything. The cost of installing a document imaging (also called document management) solution has come down dramatically, and it is now easier than ever to implement. Plus you get the added benefits of saved storage space, saved time in searching for documents, instant access to any paper file via the Internet, fewer lost files, less chance of losing critical documents to fire, water, or wear and tear, AND a cost saving on paper and ink. With all these benefits, why on earth would you still stick to your Stone Age paper filing system?

Want help in breaking any of these bad habits? Contact a professional computer support company and ask for a complimentary consultation on how you can break these bad hi-tech habits for good!

As part of your Toronto Managed IT services or network support services plan, backup and disaster recovery should be addressed by your IT support company.

If you ask most business owners what’s the biggest threat to their company’s network and data, they might say, “viruses, hackers and cyber criminals,” or perhaps “faulty hardware, software and system failures”. But research is showing a much different reality.

According to a recent study published by Computer Economics, (a research and metrics company for IT managers) employee sabotage – whether it be for financial gain, retribution or some other motivation – accounts for a bigger threat than viruses, hackers, hardware failures and natural disasters.

With so much critical data and operations tied up in a company’s network, internal sabotage from employees becomes an even greater risk. In a matter of minutes, an employee can delete software or erase years of data vital to a company. They can purposefully download viruses or attempt to tarnish their employer’s reputation by posting pornography on their company’s web site or spamming all clients with racist, hateful and slanderous e-mails. Or they can simply download client lists and other confidential information and sell it to competitors, post it online or use it to start a competitive business.

What are the reasons why they do this? The biggest one given is simply “job dissatisfaction.” Another contributing factor seems to be the downturn in the economy. Cut backs, layoffs and fewer raises have given rise to employees stealing data, equipment or money. For example, a law firm recently discovered their internal IT person was purchasing computer equipment on the company’s credit card and reselling it on eBay. He had embezzled over $40,000 before the company caught up to what he was doing.

Another company suspected that one of their employees was stealing and suspended them from work until a further investigation could be conducted. When the employee caught wind of what was happening, they deleted over a year’s worth of company e-mails – all containing important client records and history – in an effort to cover their tracks. Fortunately this company had a solid backup system in place and was able to immediately recover all the data within a few hours.

To protect yourself, we strongly recommend you have an offsite backup of your data in place, with disaster recovery capabilities. As a Toronto IT support company, we always recommend an option that includes the following components:

1. In 15 minute intervals, changes to data on your server are written to the backup server.
2. At the end of each day, the latest changes to your data are sent to a remote, secure backup location.
3. All data that resides on the backup server and at the remote backup location is encrypted to protect it from hackers.
4. The remote data is mirrored in two data centers for additional redundancy and security.
5. The backup server is monitored 24/7×365 to ensure data is being backuped up.
6. Each month a test recovery on sample data is recovered.
7. No need to shell out thousands on a new backup server—it’s included in the affordable monthly fee for the service.
8. No more tapes to remember to rotate!

Even if you’re not concerned about employee sabotage, this backup and disaster recovery service is essential for any business that can’t afford to be down days or weeks in the event of a disaster (server crash, fire, theft, flood) . A service like this can have your business back up and running within 3 hours in the event of a server crash, or 3 short days if your server is completely destroyed—with ALL of your data in tact.  A fully managed IT services plan with comprehensive network support should include a backup and disaster recovery plan like the above.

Misunderstanding #1: Believing That Tape Backups Are A Reliable Way To Secure Your Data.
Wrong! Tape backups have an average failure rate of 100% (no, that’s not a typo). What makes this even worse is that tape backups will APPEAR to be working, giving you a false sense of security.

Misunderstanding #2: Backing Up Your Data Will Allow You To Restore Your Network To Its Original State, Quickly And Easily.
Wrong again! Having just a copy of your data doesn’t guarantee this at all. To help you understand, let me give you a simple analogy…

Let’s suppose we made an exact replica of all the items in your house right now and put them offsite in a storage facility – that’s a backup of your “data.” If your house burned to the ground (God forbid!) we would have to rebuild the HOUSE (which is the server, software and supporting environment) BEFORE we could restore all your items back from the storage facility. Obviously that takes some time. That’s why simply having an offsite copy of your data doesn’t guarantee you’ll be back up and running FAST. It could take several days – possibly weeks – before everything was restored; and that’s assuming you HAVE the data in a clean state and all the originally installed software disks.

Misunderstanding #3: Trusting Their Backup Is Automatically Working Without Doing Periodic Test Restores.
I see this happening a LOT – a business owner thinks their backups are working because they don’t see any error messages or apparent problems. Then, when they need to restore a file, they discover the backups stopped working MONTHS ago and all that data is gone.

Want To Know For Sure If Your Data Is Safe? Get your computer support provider (or find a trusted one) to perform a Disaster Recovery Audit. Ask them to review your current backup to verify that your data is being backed up properly and could be restored in the event of a disaster.