5 Questions Business Owners Should Ask When Picking An Online Backup Provider

Picking an online backup provider can seem overwhelming. There are literally hundreds of choices, each targeting their own special customer base.

If you’re looking to purchase an online backup service for a company with multiple remote systems, these 5 questions should help make the decision a bit easier for you.

Is it secure?

Make sure that your data is encrypted using a private key.

Your online backup company should not be able to access your private data on their server. And the best way to ensure your data is properly protected is if you’re the only one who has access to the encryption password.

Although this is a fairly common feature amongst online backup providers today, some companies only offer it by request. So it’s important to ask.

How do I manage my users?

Nothing’s worse than having to go through 20 different computers – one by one – and modifying individual settings. And if you have to track down all of your mobile laptops in order to do this, it can lead to some unnecessary headaches.

A good online backup solution should offer centralized management capability, where you can administer each machine individually from your own remote management console. This way, you can change settings and even disable accounts without needing to have the remote computers nearby.

For companies with lots of mobile laptop users, this can be a very helpful feature.

Is it intuitive?

Whenever you try to implement a new application within your company, you must be prepared to manage potential user resistance.

Some users may not want to change the way they work because they got used to the old system. Other users might resist because have trouble learning how to work effectively with the new software.

That’s why it’s important that – when picking an online backup provider – you make sure to find one that works seamlessly in the background, and that requires little or no end-user training.

Also, make sure that the interface is bright and simple to navigate… yet still offers all of the recovery features that your end-users will need in an emergency.

This will also help minimize the need for end-user training and support.

Also, make sure to ask about the technical support offered by your backup provider. Will your users be forced to write trouble-tickets and wait for an answer? Or will they be able to pick up the phone and speak with real human being?

How often does it back up?

When it comes to recovering your data there is an inverse relationship between recency and importance.

That spreadsheet you’re working on right now is probably much more important to you than some Word document that you wrote last month. That’s why there’s such great value in having an application that instantly & continuously backs up your data each time you save your project.

In today’s fast-paced business environment, you can no longer afford to lose a full day’s work because of a hard-drive crash. Continuous data protection technology helps you minimize the amount of data you can potentially lose… down to just a few minutes.

What other systems does it support?

When it comes to managing software, it can be very helpful to get everything from a single source.

Rather than having one company to archive your Exchange server, another company to back up your Linux systems and yet another for your laptops… it’s much better to have a one-stop-shop that supplies all of your needs.

Not only is this more convenient in terms of billing and support, but it’s also gives you more leverage in negotiating special bundled pricing.

Hopefully, by focusing on these 5 key points, you should have a much easier time picking an online backup provider that’s right for your company.