TAKING THE TIME TO BACK UP YOUR DATA
Backing up your data is right up there with those mundane, everyday tasks that you procrastinate on (like regularly cleaning out your coffee machine) until either something catastrophic happens (your coffee machine dies), or hopefully you’ve read a blog like this that jogs your memory.
We are hoping it’s the latter.
The point of backing up your data came to light again last month when our team at End of Month Angels re-keyed a client’s data from October 2015 – June 2016 as the data was not backed up correctly. It’s a nightmare situation that can be simply avoided if you follow the right steps.
If you are a regular subscriber to our End of Month Angels blogs, you may be familiar with our very own IT Tech Guru, Jerome’s Golden 3-2-1 rule when it comes to backing up your data. You can find the full article here but for those looking for a quick run-down, here are Jerome’s 3 simple yet powerful tips for backing up your data, so you never have to worry about losing everything ever again.
Rule 1: Keep 3 copies of anything that is important to you.
By this we don’t mean three of your favourite chocolate bars or favourite bottles of wine (yet that is OK too), but keep three copies of all your main files. Keep one on your main computer and two other copies of the original. So should something ever happen to not only your main copy, but your second copy too, you have a third to bring home the biscuit.
Rule 2: Back-up using 2 types of media.
Yep, here’s the time when you can be footloose and carefree with your choice of media – try one – try them all. The more the merrier. If you use an external hard drive as one of your backups, mix it up and use a USB for your second backup copy. If one media fails, you have another media to step up. Remember – backing up to another drive on your own computer does not count as a second back up file. It must be an external backup device or cloud-based system – or it’s useless.
Rule 3: Keep a back-up copy off-site.
Now no one wants to think about what would happen in the unfortunate case of a house or office fire or flood. Yet unfortunately these things do happen and it is good to have a contingency plan in place. So it is a wise idea to keep one of your backup copies off-site. Sure this may seem a tad annoying to keep a physical backup off-site, so consider a cloud-based backup such as Carbonite or Crashplan – they can take the stress out of the situation for you.
So take the time to back-up correctly. Add it to your Friday afternoon checklist and start each weekend knowing your files are safe and sound.
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~ Jane Morgan is the Director of End of Month Angels, a consultancy firm specialising in Trust Accounting. Jane knows the legislative requirements of running a successful Real Estate office through her 19 years industry experience. Don’t trust just anyone with your trust accounting, trust End of Month Angels and get back to what you do best – growing your business.