Posted by Jim Van on February 3, 2012 under business continuity, data security, disaster recovery, security, small business | 
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I recently came across a slide show on CRM.com that showed 10 basic steps to safeguard your business data, and thought
I’d add my own thoughts to each point and post them here: Read more of this article »
Posted by Jim Van on December 3, 2011 under business continuity, data security, disaster recovery, security | Read the First Comment
It happens. Despite all the due diligence, a solid security policy, regular updates to your security software, your business gets hacked. Congratulations! You’re now part of an estimated 62,000 strong group of businesses worldwide that have been hacked in 2011 alone, according to the Computer Security Institute, a non-profit industry watchdog group that follows such things.
So, now that we’ve established that, what are the next steps you should take? The first few minutes can make all the difference…. Read more of this article »
Posted by Jim Van on September 23, 2011 under business continuity, data security, disaster recovery, security, small business | Be the First to Comment
The Remote (Online) backup industry is exploding. As with any ‘explosion’, there’s almost always a bubble (remember the dot com bubble? We’d prefer not to…it’s embarrasing). In any bubble, there are plenty of ‘experts’ selling their services, some of whom are experts, and some of whom will move on to the next big thing as soon as this bubble deflates.
Unfortunately, many businesses lack the knowledge about remote backup to ask the right questions of prospective suppliers. With hundreds of companies offering remote backup, it’s challenging to choose the right provider with whom one can entrust the company’s critical business data. Here are some minimal criteria that all providers should meet. If a prospective vendor doesn’t meet all of them, you might consider moving on and looking at another: Read more of this article »
Posted by Jim Van on September 16, 2011 under business continuity, data security, disaster recovery, security, small business | Be the First to Comment
The Difference Between Home and Business Online Backup Plans
I’m not sure about you, but my inbox is full of online backup offers for as low as $6/mo to backup up to 50gb of my data. Yipee! Just three years ago, the same amount of data backup would’ve cost me north of $75/month. Prices have really fallen. Or have they? Read more of this article »
Posted by Jim Van on September 9, 2011 under business continuity, disaster recovery, entrepreneur, eOffice, small business | Read the First Comment
In our line of business, we see a lot of systems and networks. Sadly, about 70% of them aren’t backed up regularly, including about 20% that aren’t backed up at all! But there are the 30% who do perform regular backups, and the variety of methods is astounding, ranging from backing up to a local ‘thumb’ drive, an external hard drive, CD/DVDs, and good old-fashioned tape. Some even use our recommended method of remote online backups.
Whatever method you use, effective backups require a couple of key components: Read more of this article »
Posted by Jim Van on October 19, 2010 under business continuity, disaster recovery, small business | Read the First Comment
I was thumbing through security results the other day, and came up with some interesting numbers:
When asked for top 5 business issues, only 18% of small business owners listed technology as an area of concern. Most were concerned with regulation (67%), taxes (74%), capital availability (58%), and even succession beat out technology at 24%. The numbers add up to more than 100% because business owners were asked to list their top 3 concerns.
In an age where most of our businesses are technology-driven, most of us don’t think about technology, until something goes wrong and our business comes to a screeching halt because of a technical glitch. I hope that never happens to you. Read more of this article »