Backing Up Your Business

Imagine there’s a network outage in your area. Internet is down and you have no idea how long it might last.

How would that affect your business?

Suddenly there are no cloud connections. You can’t connect with your customers, process their payments or put in your own online orders. Your employees aren’t able to send emails, download the files they need or perform many of the other tasks necessary to get their jobs done. The result: lost revenue and potentially damaged business relationships.

Is your business prepared for that?

A backup or redundant connection could be the solution that keeps you on track. But how do you figure out if your business needs it?

When Does Redundancy Become A Necessity?

Data shows that unplanned IT downtime can cost an average of $5,000 a minute. More than that, though, it can throw your whole business of kilter, adding to the possibility of:

• Security risks, leaving your system vulnerable to potential attacks
• Sync stoppages, meaning your systems won’t be able to sync as normal.
• Communications issues, making it difficult to communicate with other locations and departments, as well as your customers.

A backup connection acts as insurance, giving you peace of mind that your Internet will stay up and running even when your primary connection is down. But a secondary connection is also an investment – and some business owners may feel like it’s not worth the cost to them. So how do you figure out whether your business needs one?

You can start by doing a little math.

Calculating Potential Lost Revenue

To see if a backup connection is right for your business, start by calculating the revenue you’d lose if your business Internet went down for a few hours – or even a whole day. This formula can help:

Lost Revenue = (GR/TH) x I x H
GR= Gross yearly revenue
TH= Total yearly business hours
I= Percentage Impact
H= Number of hours of outage

Does the potential lost revenue justify the added expense or not? And what about when you add in the other effects a network outage could have?

What to Look For in a Backup Connection

Of course, deciding if you need a redundant connection is just the first step. Next up is making sure you find the right one.

Backup connections aren’t all created equal, and not all will give you the peace of mind you need. There are a few things to factor into your decision:

• Reliability: If your primary connection fails, you need a backup connection that’s going to be dependable in its wake. Look for connections delivered by multiple platforms, including satellite, fixed wireless and fibre.
• Seamlessness: You want your business to continue uninterrupted – which means you should look for a solution that’s seamless. If your primary connection goes down, your backup connection should kick in automatically – and when your connection resumes again it should automatically go back to the main network.
  

• Speed: Consider the upload and download speeds your business requires in order to stay connected during an outage. You’ll need a redundancy plan that meets those needs.

• Affordability: Costs can vary between providers and will depend on the size of your company and your overall needs.

You’ll be able to rest easy with all of those in place – confident that your business won’t stop, even if your Internet does.

Want to learn more? Find out about Xplornet Enterprise Solutions’ 24/7 BisBackup continuity plans.