Having a robust back-up system in place is good business sense, but how often do you check it’s working?

It’s no good having a back-up system if you don’t test it regularly.  There are a number of reasons you may need your back up:

• You’ve accidentally saved a document without changing the name – losing the original
• A document has somehow become corrupted and is no longer accessible or usable
• There’s been a power outage and you hadn’t saved something for a while beforehand
• The hardware is damaged – and that can be caused by a range of situations from flood to break-in damage.

Most of the time you just won’t need it – but when you do you have to be sure it works.

Strangely enough, it can be easier to retrieve a whole batch of files than a single file, but that isn’t always what is needed.   If one person has lost a file from their system, they want that file back, but if a global retrieval is done, everyone’s files will be replaced – that can cause a whole new set of problems!

When you have a back-up system installed, ensure that you have the retrieval system that will work best for you, whether that’s a self-access system or a remote system.  Then test it regularly to make sure it works – either by your staff or by your back up support supplier.  Make sure files that have been retrieved are usable and the version you want, then, should the worst happen and disaster recovery is needed – you’ll have one less headache to contend with.