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