Image via Wikipedia

Everyone should be used to the idea of backing up their work. I say should be use because for most people backup is either something that is done for you or something that is not done. Backup is not a popular topic, simply put its not perceived as being, cool, sexy or even necessary. However backup is necessary. It is very easy to lose some work. It is very easy for a computer to lose all of your work in one fell swoop, and when that happens if you do not have a backup you have nothing. An adage I’ve heard online recently and one that for me rings true is this. If you only have one copy of something you don’t have anything. That’s because a single copy of anything, anywhere can be turned into nothing instantly with no warning.

You’ll notice that I say anything, anywhere.

You see a lot of people have turned to cloud computing as a method of not needing a backup. I can understand why. Companies offering good cloud services allow you to feel looked after. You work in the cloud and they look after everything for you. All you have to do is work in the cloud and everything is alright.

This is something that is mostly true.

You see once your data is looked after by someone else you ability to gain access to that data is limited to them giving you access. At any time that access could be revoked by a number of reasons that have nothing to do with. Also even big companies can lose data. There was a nasty scare a couple of months ago in the US where the data owned by users of the T-Mobile Sidekick mobile phone appeared to have been entirely lost. Here’s a Telegraph article from the time that the story broke:

In the end the data was recovered but for a while it looked as if everything had been lost.

So what can you do?

The answer is to treat the cloud the same as you would treat your computer. Find a way to automatically copy your data from the cloud to a computer you control. That way you have multiple copies of your information and are safe.

How you backup depends on your cloud service. This means I can’t give you a single recommended answer. The trick is to look at how you work and to a technique that works for you. Whatever you do – make it simple  – simple usually works best.  One solution is to use something like Dropbox. I’ve mentioned Dropbox  before. Its a service that lets you share data between the cloud and your desktop. This makes it simple to have copies of work on your computer and in the cloud at once. I’m also happy to work with you on personal solutions – just so long as you have backups.

After a very smooth relationship with SalesForce we decided to them bring on board in partnership with us, offering the best CRM solution available.

to find out more either call us on 0800 0354148 or click below and get a FREE TRIAL!