The Importance of a secure, off site data backup strategy

Independent research has shows that more than 80% of businesses suffering major data loss have gone out of business within the next 12 months. This is a situation that most people consider simply won't happen to them, therefore it is not part of their thinking or planning, simply businesses don't prepare for the worst.

Considering how easy it can be to enforce a backup strategy in any business infrastructure it is a shame so many businesses feel the full effect of data loss due to non-existent/not properly coordinated backup regimes. How hard is it to actually backup your computer data? The manual task of physically backing up important files and taking them off-site can be just as daunting and tiresome to the small business operator as it is to the experienced IT staff member. Consider these issues as well:

In fact, many people who even bother to stringently adhere to this sort of backup plan forget to actually take their data off-site. Many will put their data in a location in their office, in a safe, a filing cabinet, even in the bottom draw off their desk. Or maybe take it home and leave it in the car. Apart from the obvious security issues and the fact that if the office burns down in a fire their backup data will be lost as well, there is also data integrity to consider. What effect is the man handling of your backup mediums having on the disk/drives themselves? Should you take your tape backups home in your briefcase, can you be sure they will not be wiped from a magnetic source in there as well?