Introduction to the Online Backup Guide for Service Providers

Only a small percentage of computers have an easy way to make backups. Of those that do, many users do not make proper backups. The result is that thousands of individuals and small businesses lose hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of data annually to fire, theft, equipment failure, and many other common catastrophes. Even more lose data through everyday user error.

The Online Backup Guide for Service Providers is a complete 196-page guide on starting and operating an Online Backup Service – the latest revision of Rob Cosgrove’s industry defining RBS Book originally published in 1987. The entire book is being published here, chapter by chapter.

Of the few computer users who perform proper backups, an even smaller number store their backups offsite. Because of this, many businesses go broke when a fire strikes, destroying their computers and their on-site backups.

Studies show that it takes an entire day to reenter an hour’s worth of lost computer data. Studies also show that businesses that lose a substantial amount of computer data will be out of business within two years.

You can now offer a service that guarantees backups are done properly, regularly, and most importantly, stored OFFSITE.

Proper Backups

A proper backup regimen ensures that if there is a disaster like a fire that destroys a company’s computers, the company can recover with new computers and very little loss of data.

Most people underestimate the value of the data they enter into their computers, thinking that the most valuable part of their computer system is the hardware. It is easy to think of computers as being valuable when you have to write a check for a thousand dollars to buy one.

However, after computers have been in use for a while the data becomes very valuable indeed – much more valuable than the cost of replacing all the computer hardware. The salaries of employees who enter data, the lack of redundant paper records, and a heavy reliance on computers contribute to the increased value of the data.

Consider the cost of salaries for entering, from scratch, a single year’s worth of data lost in a fire. Consider the cost in lost business due to the inability to send invoices for goods sold, or to send mailings to a computerized customer list.

Every day all around the world the presence or absence of proper backups makes the difference between saving companies and losing them to disaster. An adequate backup regimen is the cheapest insurance a computer-reliant business can buy.

During an average Online Backup session, computer files are compressed, encrypted, and transmitted to an offsite location, automatically and without user intervention. Most often, Online Backups are scheduled during the hours when the client company is closed. This procedure solves two of the most common problems computer users have doing backups: getting backups offsite, and doing it regularly.

Most companies using computers are not in business to use computers. They may be in business to sell insurance, repair shoes, or forward freight; and they are experts at what they do. But, they are not generally experts at maintaining their computerized data. Thus, their computers and data get little attention until there’s trouble, when it’s often too late to do anything about it.

It has been estimated that less than half of companies without a dedicated data processing department do regular backups. Other well-meaning business people, acting on incomplete advice from long ago, adhere to a backup regimen that is dangerously inadequate. Most who do regular backups, adequate or not, leave their backup tapes or diskettes at the business where they can be destroyed in the very catastrophe they are doing backups to avoid.

As an Online Backup Service Provider, your job is to protect data by storing copies offsite on a regular basis so that doesn’t happen. If the business’ copy of the data is destroyed, you should be capable of restoring it, either to the same computer or to a different computer.

Companies and individuals will pay you to protect their data. Online backup is a good business to be in, and now is a good time to start. The keys to being profitable are the same with all businesses – keep costs low and under control, provide great customer service, be competitive with your pricing and service levels, do great marketing and selling, keep enough cash on hand, expand only when you have no other choice, know your market, and be consistent.

You also need great software, because that is the heart of the business. This book talks about virtually all aspects of running an Online Backup Service (also called Remote Backup Service or RBS), and pays particular attention to the software and technical aspects without ignoring Sales and Management.

This entire book is a Best Practices document on starting and operating a small (fewer than 10,000 customers) Online Backup Service. Of course you can grow bigger than 10,000 customers, but this book will give you a head start with that first 10,000, and the first 25.

 

Rob Cosgrove is the President of Remote Backup Systems, founder of the Online Backup Industry, and a vocal advocate for maintaining the highest standards in Online Backup software. His latest book, the Online Backup Guide for Service Providers: How to Start and Operate an Online Backup Service, is available online now, on Amazon.com, and at bookstores.

Remote Backup Systems provides brandable, scalable software and solutions to MSPs and VARs enabling them to offer Online Backup Services.

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