SMBs have many reasons for ignoring backup strategies

From five-person startups to multinational conglomerates, all companies produce records that are important to short- and long-term operations and must be stored, protected and backed up.

However, according to a recent Windows IT Pro report, many small- and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) continue to ignore the need for implementing a data backup strategy. Whether through a tape solution or an offsite records storage provider, experts agree that companies should have some method in place for ensuring information remains protected in the face of various threats.

Yet SMBs continue to come up with numerous reasons why they choose not back up information. Windows IT Pro's Jason Bovberg highlighted several such excuses.

Many pertain to SMBs not recognizing the threats to business data, or choosing to believe risks don't apply to them - both of which are misguided notions, Bovberg wrote.

Unless a company has suffered the effects of lost or stolen data, it may not have the capacity to comprehend how serious the situation is. However, suffering this type of incident is not the way an organization should have to learn. Preparing a backup strategy ahead of time will greatly reduce the odds that such an incident ever occurs.

"With backup and the ability to quickly restore lost files, a business can continue to thrive without skipping a beat," Bovberg wrote.

The "it won't happen to us" argument is common among companies of all sizes. Despite reports of data loss and breaches appearing on front pages and newscasts around the world, companies still think they are out of harm's way.

Truthfully, no company's data is safe because there are simply too many threats against it. If it's not a malicious insider or the theft of records, it's a lost file or an employee who accidentally shreds an important document. Data risks come in many forms, and a robust data backup strategy can protect against all of them.

Other reasons highlighted by Bovberg include the costs of backing up data, perceived complications or the fact that SMBs have lesser systems they feel will do the job.

In addition to protecting against data threats, companies should also deploy a records management program to handle the piles of documents beneath which many are buried. According to a poll conducted by the Indiana Chamber of Commerce, 33 percent of respondents said it can take them at least an hour to find a specific piece of information.