| Over the past year I've emphasized, told and retold | | | | outsourced computer backup and recovery service |
| the following fact at countless speaking engagements | | | | you may be considering. |
| and educational seminars: 100% of computer | | | | My Ultimate, "No-Brainer" Computer Backup Wish List |
| hardware fails 100% of the time. | | | | I insist upon a computer backup system that:o Runs |
| You see--the question isn't IF our computers will | | | | automatically, so I don't have to remember, be in the |
| break down, but WHEN? It could be today, or | | | | office, or set aside time to backup my information.o |
| tomorrow, or the day after ... we just can't know. | | | | Saves all my files, updates and changes every single |
| We're thankful it hasn't happened yet, but it would | | | | day (even Saturday and Sunday), so I'll never lose a |
| be foolish to ignore the inevitable. | | | | single day of my hard work again.o Ensures my |
| Because the annoying reality is: computers crash | | | | valuable client database will never be lost--because |
| unexpectedly and at the most inconvenient time. | | | | without my list, my business is doomed.o Stores all |
| On a personal note, this happened to me. My hard | | | | my records at a separate physical and geographical |
| drive crashed for no apparent reason. But it wasn't | | | | location from my computer, so my information is |
| my work computer--it was a computer that stored | | | | protected even in the event of a theft, fire or |
| something of great personal value to me: the only | | | | flood.o Automatically backs up my "backup" to a third |
| good copy of my wedding video that I had been | | | | location, so that I have complete redundancy, and so |
| personally cutting together for months. | | | | all possibility for information loss is eliminated.o Does |
| The bizarre thing was I had just completed editing | | | | not copy over my last backup, but instead allows me |
| the video the night before, and I hadn't even had the | | | | to see what my work looked like yesterday, a week |
| chance to play it for my wife. I had been working on | | | | ago, last month, or even 12 months ago.o Encrypts |
| that computer day after day for months, with no | | | | my records, so no one but me can access or read |
| problems. I was intending on burning additional copies | | | | my files.o Automatically tests my backup to make |
| to DVDs, but I had just finished the changes I | | | | sure it's actually working, so my work will be 100% |
| wanted to make. All I did was unplug the external | | | | recoverable when my computer crashes again!o |
| drive from my laptop to connect it to my desk top | | | | Eliminates all time spent by me and my staff to |
| computer ... but that was enough to crash the drive, | | | | complete and test our backups, so I have more time |
| completely erase months of work and destroy all the | | | | to concentrate on my business.o Eliminates all backup |
| images of my wedding day. | | | | hardware investments, so I have more money in my |
| But I was lucky, because what if my livelihood had | | | | pocket. |
| depended on that hard drive? | | | | In other words, I need a backup system that |
| Though both my wife and I literally felt sick to our | | | | automatically: |
| stomachs for days afterward, I learned the most | | | | - Saves my information. |
| important lesson of my career and gained the vision | | | | - Protects the time I invested to complete my work |
| for my life's work. My wife and I co-founded our | | | | and build my client database. (This is a biggie! Can you |
| company with this one undeniable truth: Your | | | | imagine building your list again from scratch?) |
| computer backup cannot wait until tomorrow. | | | | - Gives me the peace-of-mind that my next |
| And if your livelihood depends upon the information | | | | computer crash will be a mere inconvenience--not a |
| stored on your computer, the situation becomes | | | | catastrophe. |
| even more grave. Did you know that, according to | | | | - Lets me stop worrying about backup altogether |
| the Globe and Mail, 70% of Canadian small businesses | | | | because I don't even have to think about it! |
| that suffer a major data loss close their doors within | | | | More than anything, my automated computer backup |
| a year? (Joanna Pachner, Special to Globe & Mail | | | | system works for me--does EXACTLY what it says |
| Update, May 16, 2007) | | | | it will, gives me back my work when I need it, and |
| Your time is a non-renewable resource, and losing a | | | | never requires me to spend any time fiddling with it. |
| single day's work is incredibly frustrating. | | | | I encourage you to ask yourself this question: does |
| I learned this lesson the hard way. But after I lost | | | | your computer backup system give you everything |
| my wedding video--and realized all the things I should | | | | on this list? |
| have done differently--I began researching data | | | | If not, I urge you to make the switch to one that |
| backup and putting together my wish list for the | | | | does before another day passes. Because, |
| ultimate "no-brainer" computer backup system. | | | | remember, your computer backup cannot wait until |
| And here's the wish list that I came up with. I invite | | | | tomorrow ... just ask my wife, who will never let me |
| you to use this list as a benchmark against which you | | | | forget it! |
| compare your current backup procedure, or any | | | | |