Providers of I.T. support in Tulsa are citing availability as one of their biggest selling points. For companies that are yet to transition to outsourced services, the big question is: why is availability so important?
In today’s highly connected world, most companies conduct business online as well as offline. In fact, some conduct business only online. This is a convenient arrangement for both customers and companies. Customers can get what they need whenever they need it, while companies can earn revenue around the clock.
All is well as long as everything is up and running. But emergencies happen unexpectedly, such as server crashes, network failovers, and cyberattacks, resulting in downtime. In terms of earnings, downtime means financial losses, especially for companies with high-traffic websites. Thus, high availability is a critical component of a company’s success.
Currently, third-party providers guarantee availability by leveraging storage. Cloud computing platforms like Amazon Web Services, Microsoft Azure, and Google Cloud deliver virtually limitless storage, making it possible for providers to offer reliable backups.
The Role of Backups in Availability
- Minimizing losses – In some cases, the system doesn’t just go down— data is irretrievably erased too. Without backups, the data is gone forever. But with backups, data can be restored to an earlier state before it got corrupted.
- Destroying infected data – Sometimes, data is not lost, but it still becomes infected so companies have no choice but to dispose of it. Fortunately, they don’t have to worry about losing that data when it can be recovered.
- Speeding up the restoration process – Restoring data from a readily available backup is quick, so downtime is cut short. Any further loss is also nipped in the bud because the system goes back up along with the lost data.
- Facilitating easier testing – Since production environment is hands-off for testing, a copy of it should be used. With backups, getting that copy is not a problem. Companies can play create different use cases with the data and not worry about compromising data used in production environment.
- Maximizing available storage – Providers of I.T. support in Tulsa have access to plenty of storage, so companies subscribed to their services have access to it, too. It only makes sense for these companies to want to get the most out of their subscription fee.
- Increasing data security – Backups have a retention period which companies can configure. Thus, a company handling sensitive information may want backups to be destroyed daily, while another company may hold out for a longer period (usually a week).
- Improving backup restoration efficiency – Some instances require partial or even granular backups, and not full-system backups. When backups can be restored on an as-needed basis, only the necessary time, effort, and resources are used.
If your company is handling large amounts of data, it’s better to outsource your backup process to a provider of I.T. support in Tulsa. We at JMARK Business Solutions are happy to be of service. Contact us today to learn more.
