A shocking 30 percent of people have never backed up their files. Alarming, right?Β Clearly, something must be done. And what better time to joinΒ together and eradicate this figure than World Backup Day? For those unfamiliar with this five-year-old holiday, the global initiative stresses the importance of regularly backing up data and spreads awareness for data preservation. As the cornerstone of its mission, the movement asks everyone to take the following pledge:
“I solemnly swear to backup my important documents and precious memories on March 31st.”
This is a great start, but as hosting providers you know that a sound backup policy is more than just checking a box. Backing up clients’ servers is not an errand to complete once a year. So how can you take this pledge and amplify it? What is the hosting provider World Backup Day pledge?
I solemnly swear to maintain the integrity of my client’s data by regularlyΒ educating themΒ about the risks and activities that lead to data loss or data breaches, the costs of downtime and the need for a backup and disaster recovery solution.Β
Let’s examine each of these three considerations:
1. Data Risks
Have you struggled to sell clients on your server backup solution? Introducing backup as an additional revenue stream for your portfolio is only the first step. You have to convince clients why they should pay extra for these business continuity services. And judging by the statistic cited at the beginning of this post, this market need is not readily apparent to them. You may recall from our previous blog post,Β
- Cybercrime and computer viruses
- Former employees
While this is a good start, use specific instances and examples of each to really strike a chordΒ with business owners. Here are some common situations you can shareΒ to make your point:
- An employee accidentally deletes critical files
- An employee spills water or coffee on his/her laptop
- The client’s office floods
- The client’s office loses power in the middle of a snowstorm
- Local backups fail
- An employee clicks a malicious link in an email, corrupting the whole of the network, and a hacker is able to hold sensitive files for ransom
- An employee loses his/her mobile device
- According to World Backup Day’s official site, 113 phones are lost or stolen every minute!
Discuss data loss in real business terms and scenarios toΒ upsell current and close new clients. Check out these other cases of data loss for more inspiration!
2. Downtime Costs
OnceΒ you demonstrate the various ways in which things can go wrong, next you have to tie it back to what the business owner ultimately cares about, their business’s bottom line.Β Let’s say your client lost their Excel sheet with important budget information because it accidentally got moved to their desktop’s trash bin, which they cleared last Friday. Does that business owner then have to start all over and create a new budget? What business activities will be stalled as a result? Maybe they can’t purchase that software that would dramatically increase sales because they don’t know how much money they’re working with.
The downtime that accompanies an IT disaster is highly costly. Again, this will likely not be common knowledge. Ask clients how their profitability would be impacted if employees showed up to work and couldn’t get anything done. Having to wait to recover important data is a colossalΒ drain on employee productivity and as a result, puts downward pressure on company margins and profitability. SMBs should have the peace of mind that should anything go awry, they’ll be able to retrieve the data they need at an optimal recovery point objective (RPO) and recovery time objective (RTO).
So how high are these downtimeΒ costs that clients are dealing with? According to CIO Insight’sΒ “2016 Disaster Recovery Survey” report,“2016 Disaster Recovery Survey” report, 73 percent of participants claimed downtime costs their company more than $10,000 a day!
3. BDR as the Solution
You’re two-thirds of the way through the hosting provider World Backup Day pledge! You’ve hooked them with FUD and scary figures, but now you have to ease your client’s worries by providing a security blanket for all the data threats you’ve addressed. Enter: backup and disaster recovery (BDR). There’s a reason we includeΒ BDR and business continuity services in the same conversation. Your server backup solution enables SMBs to continue their business operations, thus helping them maintain business efficiency and profitability.
So let’s sayΒ one of your clients calls, complaining that key files haveΒ been locked and held for a $1000 ransom. With BDR in place, they don’t have to fork over the cash to recover that data. They can simply have you restore the files from your last backup. Now, I’m neitherΒ diminishing the effect of such a data breach nor condoning behavior that leads to one. I’m merely saying that having a BDR solution in place helps mitigate the damage and fallout. And this is what you need to stress to clients who struggle to understand the value of your backup services
So with all this in mind, do you solemnly swearΒ to take these points back to your clients and regularly remind them of the importance of a solid backup and disaster recovery strategy? Leave a comment below to pledge your support!
