Are you protecting your fruit? I had a recent call with a customer’s office manager who had lost a spreadsheet including all their customer’s billing and payments. I spent a bit of time looking at the file system and couldn’t find the file. So I moved on to asking about their backups. . . silence on the other end of the line.
There is not excuse for this in the modern day except ignorance. Today is the day to take action because you are no longer ignorant. Not too long ago, it cost quite a bit of money and time to back up your work. These days, services offer free, inexpensive, and automated backups. All you need to do is set them up and use them.
Maybe you’ve heard of programs auto saving as you work–that is important and helpful in the case of a power flash or surge. Allowing you to recover most of your work (because your computer or hard drive are still OK). But what happens when your hard drive is fried? If you came to this blog post ignorant, you’ll probably have to look up your local data forensic expert and pay him hundreds to recover whatever data they can find in part.
Hopefully, you’re reading this and already have a backup system in place. Who ever you are, pass this information on because this is new information for more folks than it should be.
The Workstation Backup Solution
The solution is simple and you probably already have an account that is capable of giving you the security you need to protect your work, your family photo/video album, your creations. You need one of the following programs:
- Microsoft One Drive
- Google Drive
- Drop Box
- iCloud
Once you install the software for them on your computer, they each set up a folder that is synced up to the cloud with every change. The habit you need to change, is to save everything, EVERYTHING you create and do into that folder. I actually stuck that folder in the “My Documents” folder on my PC. This is a habit you and everyone in your team and company need to adopt simply for peace of mind.
The Added Bonus of Backup Services
Not only do these services back up your data, they make your data available everywhere. On your other computer, on your phone, on your XBox/Playstation or other console, even on your in-laws’ systems. When visiting my mother a few years ago, I pulled up my backup account on her “bigger” screen TV and started flipping through pages of the kids and family camping, sailing, and adventuring including our videos. That was an amazing experience that caused her to buy into it. With proper sharing, we’re able to at anytime look at each other’s photo’s and enjoy their travel and experiences. This is great for the techno-grandparents (good job Mom & Dad) to follow the lives of their grandchildren.
Time for Action: Set Up Your Backups
You’ve got one of the services listed above. So go and set it up now. The worst thing you can do is nothing. If you don’t have an account with any of them just Google/Bing them up and take action now.
My favorite is One Drive but I also frequently use Google Drive and Drop box.
If you get stuck and have a quick question, stuff it in the comments below. Or contact us at: EvoDynamic.com