Memory Loss?

I have just listened to an article on  Radio 4's Today program that has caused me to radically rethink the approach I take when advising small businesses on data back-up. The approach I have always taken has been to stress the impact on the business should the key systems fail without having any contingency in place.

All of the companies I have worked with in my corporate life have had major contingency plans in place which few, luckily, have had to implement. In the very rare instance that systems have failed customers have been blissfully unaware, apart from perhaps a tiny loss of service, that any thing was wrong. Within milliseconds of a problem being detected the contingency plan kicked in: alternative computers were brought into play and previous data backups made available.

Small businesses, particularly sole traders, do not have this level of IT support but can protect their businesses never the less. However having listened to this mornings radio program something else struck me very vividly. More than often people are running businesses on computers that they are also using for personal use, which is generally not the case in the corporate world. This means that if a sole trader's system fails the impact could be much wider than just their business.

This brings me back to the program. A widow of 2 years had her lap-top stolen in a burglary at her home. The thief obviously saw an opportunity to make a few quid, but the impact on the widow was much more than financial. She lost 2 years of memories and photographs in the form of digital photographs. It was clear from the tone in her voice how traumatic this experience has continued to be.

Loss of business data can have a profound impact but often as not we still have physical files and paper; recovery is not impossible, although time consuming. Loss of 'memory', in the form of digital photographs, is another matter. These days we rarely print photos up in the traditional way so its time to think about backing them up.