Today’s smaller manufacturers are creating enormous amounts of data — everything from new product designs to top-secret intellectual property, as well as a constant flow of customer and sales information that must be managed and protected every day. To say that this data is vital would be understating the value of its constant use, and any loss of information could be devastating.
For small businesses in general, the value of information has never been more important. According to the Symantec 2012 State of Information Survey, the information small businesses create and manage on a daily basis constitutes 40 percent of the value of their business. The same survey revealed that information for small businesses is expected to increase by 178 percent within a year, and for those in the manufacturing space, that number could be even higher. The reality is that over the past few years, there hasn’t been a shortage of examples in the news spotlighting businesses losing critical data, whether through cyber-attacks, natural disasters or suffering regulatory fines for compliance violations related to losing customer data. The challenge today’s smaller manufacturers face: How do they maintain productivity by protecting their intellectual property from loss?
The simple answer is to back up that information. While the answer is simple, it’s often times not so easy to execute. In some cases, smaller manufacturers often have few or no dedicated IT staff members, and they rarely have extra time to pursue any initiative that is not focused on running the day-to-day business. When there is no immediate visible risk that a data loss incident will occur, it’s easy for them to de-emphasize and even neglect regular backups — especially when backup has a historical reputation for being difficult to manage. These incidents happen all too easily and far too often, and manufacturers can no longer run under the premise that backup is not a real need.
Fortunately, it’s simpler than ever for today’s businesses to effectively ensure that they will always have access to their information. It’s just a matter of determining which backup platform is best for your business, and which vendor best meets those needs.