Data Deposit Box Online Backup: Plan Ahead and Back Up Your Important Business Data Before Hurricane Season Is in Full Swing

June 23, 2009

TORONTO–(BUSINESS WIRE)–When local governments and disaster relief organizations in Gulf Coast and East Coast states announce their readiness for hurricane season, it makes the news. A business’ preparedness may not make headlines, but it’s no less important. In fact, ensuring that businesses and their data are up and running shortly after a hurricane can be crucial to the fast recovery of an affected area.

How so? Imagine the disaster after the storm if certain small and mid-sized businesses lost all of their crucial data. Local home insurance offices need access to their client records to help quickly process damage claims. Construction companies must have their bookkeeping up-to-date to determine if they need to (and can) hire new workers to keep up with the increased demand. And although emergency rooms may be crowded with people directly affected by the storm, non-emergency doctors still need to serve sick patients in their offices.

“Everything is interconnected in some way after a hurricane,” says Jamie Brenzel, CEO of online backup provider Data Deposit Box (www.datadepositbox.com). “No business is immune, and if frontline services can’t access the information they need to run their businesses, then it creates a domino effect that can slow down an entire community’s recovery.”

Backing up data is obviously crucial, but Brenzel says it’s important to consider the method and choose continuous online backup. Traditional methods such as tape or backing up nightly can leave data vulnerable.

“If you rely on yourself or an employee to back up every night, you’d better factor in human error,” Brenzel says. “If you’re using tape backup, even if it’s backed up perfectly - which is unlikely - those tapes will be of little use if you can’t find or access them quickly, or worse, if they’ve been damaged in the storm. In Data Deposit Box’s case, online backup is automatic and more importantly, data is stored offsite and can be accessed from anywhere.”

Of course, although data backup is crucial to a business’ survival, there is much more to a comprehensive disaster recovery plan. Small business owners in hurricane-prone area can visit their states’ Small Business Development Center’s Web site (http://www.asbdc-us.org/) for a list of resources and tips.

Most importantly, business owners should have their disaster plan in place and familiarized long before a hurricane is in the forecast.

“When meteorologists start talking about spaghetti models and ‘hunkering down,’ that’s not the time to try to back up everything in your office,” Brenzel says. “You’ll need to focus on more important safety measures for yourself and your family. If you get everything ready before hurricane activity really begins, you’ll be able to focus more on that ‘cone of uncertainty,’ rather than the uncertainty of what will happen your company.”

For more information on Data Deposit Box, please visit www.datadepositbox.com, where Jamie Brenzel comments on industry happenings and offers additional tips on security.

Contact:

Just Drive Media
Jeannie Clary, 727-278-8216
jeannie@justdrivemedia.com