System Backup

A direct hit by a major hurricane could cause as many as 40 percent of small businesses in the affected area to fold, the Small Business Development Corp. of Florida estimates. A major reason: Critical computer data-from invoices to sales orders to crucial customer lists-can be blown away with the building.

Nationwide, data recovery has become a $6 billion share of the computer industry as companies and governments take to heart the lessons of lightning strikes, floods and other incidents, including the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. Major companies, such as IBM and SunGard Data Systems Inc., have entire corporate campuses dedicated to data recovery.

Unlike buildings or inventory, lost information can be impossible to replace and can make it nearly impossible for a business to reopen.

Southwest Florida businesses learned those lessons in 2004 and 2005 hurricane seasons, and many have turned to a variety of data storage and backup options.

For a reasonable price, business owners can make copies of their important data themselves in one of a variety of ways and store it at a location outside of the hurricane zone.

"You can use backup tape drives, or even send [the data] to a CD-ROM," says Laura Pierre, an account relations manager for Synergy Networks Inc. in Fort Myers.

Data-backup software programs such as Backup Exec can make the job easier, she adds. "You can set it up to do whenever you want it to; a lot of people have to back up QuickBooks, which is their financial information," she says.

Please enter e-mail address.

Please enter some message text.