When valuing a company, three items stand at the top of the list:
- A dedicated and talented workforce with visionary leadership
- Intellectual property and branding
- Defined processes, enterprise software, and protected data
While the first two points are often discussed, processes and protected data are less sexy and less often examined. Yet ignoring these areas often results in company failure.
Successful organizations have defined processes for their usual tasks – whether it’s an 8-step “widget” manufacturing process, or NASA’s binders of operational processes for safely launching and retrieving astronauts – organizations rely on established systems to streamline production processes and to ensure quality control. Often these processes are integrated into enterprise software that tracks compliance and even records supply chain traceability. Maintaining these databases is integral to business continuity, making the data a high value company asset.
Many companies have developed good methods for backing up data. Yet what separates good systems from great systems is how they test the data to ensure it is complete, working and restorable. Verified Backups believes that your most critical backups should be tested at least daily.
Routine testing happens all around us. Every time your car is started, it tests various components including the engine, battery, fuel level, brakes, oil pressure, and even air bag status. You see the warning lights flash when the car is started to illustrate this testing. It’s a necessary and routine operation for safety.
When it comes to database backup testing, some companies run a practice scenario where the IT staff goes off site and pretends the main computer systems are down, to determine if they can restore data from their backup. While backup tests like these are a great idea, they are often done just once or twice a year due to the high staff costs.
Verified Backups created a system that secures and tests a daily backup of critical operational databases (accounting, CRM, inventory, ERP, payroll, manufacturing logs, etc.). Our patented system performs a full restore test of your database backups 365 days a year, then we check the restored data to ensure it is complete and current. We also maintain 30 days of daily backups in a secure vault. We’re ready when you need it.