| All responsible businesses today protect themselves | | | | housing tape backups to the PCs on the desks. We |
| from financial disasters via insurance policies | | | | had, just several months prior, begun the arduous |
| structured to recoup loss of revenue should the | | | | task of moving our client and other business data |
| unexpected occur. But an insurance policy can't | | | | from hard copies onto an electronic storage system - |
| restore lost customer and other business data, and | | | | and I can still hear the one word that echoed in my |
| that's often the most expensive loss of all. | | | | head as I surveyed the damage: Gone. |
| A couple of years ago, when a business acquaintance | | | | Our insurance policy covered the financial losses - but |
| first told me about his company's decision to switch | | | | nothing could reimburse us for or replace the |
| from media-based data storage (tapes, CDs, zip | | | | staggering amount of vital data lost to the flood. |
| drives) to utilizing the services of an online data | | | | Because this was in the 80s and IT departments |
| backup company, the first thing that came to mind | | | | were just beginning to be considered in small |
| was a nightmare that had occurred in my business | | | | businesses, the learning curve was steep and |
| back in the mid- to late 80s. "Disaster" was definitely | | | | expensive when anything out of the ordinary |
| the word for it - and our protection against the | | | | happened. Online data storage services didn't even |
| fallout from it was practically non-existent. | | | | exist in those days. Our entire repository of crucial |
| Sometime after the end of business on a Friday, | | | | data had been on those tapes and on that server - |
| some pipes burst in the suite of offices right above | | | | and we lost almost all of it. |
| ours. Throughout the weekend, untold gallons of | | | | The first lesson my company learned from our flood |
| water crashed through the ceiling unrestrained and | | | | was that we needed physical, off-site storage for |
| uncontrolled, so that by Monday morning it looked as | | | | our organizational and customer data. That's how we |
| if a tidal wave had washed us. Unexpected, to say | | | | handled backup and storage for many years following |
| the least, on the 14th floor of a building in the middle | | | | that event - but while that was a great deal safer |
| of town. | | | | than storing our data on-site, there was nothing to |
| As is the case with most executives it was my habit | | | | guarantee our storage site wouldn't ever experience |
| to be the early bird to the office, and the sight that | | | | such an unexpected disaster, as well. |
| greeted me when I unlocked the door is forever | | | | I never once fully stopped worrying about it - until I |
| burned into my brain. Our carpet was soaked through | | | | learned about online data storage and backup |
| with three to four inches of water. Our furniture was | | | | services. Today, my company utilizes both an on-site |
| all but floating through our suites - and even the | | | | tape backup and the services of a remote, online |
| pieces that remained stationary were soaked through | | | | backup system. Our in-house tapes are mostly used |
| and ruined. All the phone lines were shorted out. And | | | | for monthly backups (thus saving wear and tear on |
| I didn't dare flip any light switches.... | | | | the tapes and maintenance on the hardware) and we |
| Worst of all, though, was what I saw when I went | | | | use an online data and storage service for daily data |
| to inspect our small, fledgling IT area. Absolutely | | | | backups. We're fully covered, now - and our data is |
| everything in the room was thoroughly drenched and | | | | as safe as it possibly can be. |
| dripping water, from our server to the file cabinets | | | | |