myBRC - Lets get realistic

myBRC is a great new information/resource service developed by MYOB, recommend you sign up and have a look around.

I do want to however point out that within myBRC there is an article on disaster planning by Todd Salkovitz, MYOB Macintosh Product Manager.

Disaster planning: when lightening strikes, literally…(Article)

What I found interesting about this article is that it recommends that:

An off-site copy of your most recent data backups (a simple USB drive left at the bank in the safe deposit box every month can be a saviour!)

How many people do you know that have a safety deposit box? How many small business people do you know that have time to visit their safety deposit box each month to store their updated USB stick with their updated (one month old) data. Answer to both questions is probably none.

Why would you go to the trouble of a safety deposit box when you could use an online service to backup your data. Remember we are talking about Disaster Recovery here. In big business terms this means how do I plan ahead so that I can continue to work with minimal disruption should my building get bombed/catch fire etc?

Using any online backup service would mean that your data would be a day old at most (not a month) and you wouldn’t have to spend money on several USB sticks so that you can alternate them each month. You also wouldn’t have to waste precious time each month making a copy of your files (an online service would do it automatically) and you wouldn’t have to waste time visiting your bank (you could visit clients instead) to deposit your USB stick.

So Todd when you advise you readers that they should:

Second, you should always, always, always have current backups of your data. And finally, having a current backup of your data off-site is a sure way to protect your vital information in case of any type of calamity. An up-to-date CD in your safe deposit box at the bank is a wonderful way to sleep easy at night.

Please consider real alternatives for your readers as there are much better ways for them to backup their business critical information that does not mean wasting their time with CDs, USB sticks and visits to the bank.

Small business needs solutions that make them more efficient given most of them do as much as a big business does but with many fewer people. Manual backups should be a thing of the past. Instead invest the time in customer service and marketing.

Backup MYOB with Carbonite

Over the past few months I have been speaking to many small business owners about what they currently have in place to back-up their business critical files eg MYOB or Quicken files.

Many say they use the application’s backup process. Most don’t realise that it only sends the back-up file to their C:\ drive and should something happen to their C:\ drive, well then they could be in for a fun few days trying to recover records and an expensive bill.

Backing up your PC is critical. Not backing up is like placing your desk outside and hoping that its not going to rain or that the wind won’t blow your documents away.

The difficulty for most small businesses is that backing up is complicated and it can take time. There are however solutions that are simple to use, they can be automated and they are relatively cheap (16c a day).

Lets first take a look at what back-up processes MYOB has in place. MYOB creates a .dat file in which all of your records are kept. This file is named after what you name your company file eg if I called it ACME Pty Ltd my file would be called ACME Pty Ltd.dat. This file can be found in the following directory C:\BBasics1.

When you decide to exit MYOB it prompts you to perform a back-up of your records (the .dat file). I can only assume that most people would stick to the default process. MYOB proceeds to back-up your file and places it in C:\BBasics1\Backup   It actually creates a direct copy ACME Pty Ltd.dat.

Unfortunaley with both files in C:\, if the computer breaks down, is stolen or damaged, well then you have a problem. Backing up your MYOB files with Carbonite is dead simple. Just right click the file and select ‘Back up using Carbonite’. Within a few mins (depending on how big it is) it is saved. And now that you have selected it to be backed up, Carbonite will continue to back it up automatically for you every day (through-out the day).

Now regardless of what happens with the PC, the file is safe and secure.

At $59.95 for a 12 month subscription, you are talking about 16c a back-up if it was performed once a day. That covers all of your hardware and software costs, no matter how much data your have on the PC.

Carbonite is a must have for any small business that wants to secure their financial records. Get your free trial here.