How Data Loss Can Cost Your Company

Data loss can have a significant financial and non-financial impact on a business. One minute a company can be at the top of the game in their industry, and then a sudden hard drive problem has thrown them right out of the market – all because organizations underestimate the importance of their data.

Business data will more than likely grow every day, as a company will receive more custom, industry knowledge and accumulate many more documents – all of which can be utilized to help a company take one step ahead of the competition. That is why it is essential organizations have a thorough understanding of data loss, whilst ensuring they take steps to install a business back-up, prevent data disasters and have a back-up plan should the worst happen.

The Consequences of Data Loss

Data is one of a company’s most valuable assets. Not only can the files accumulated over the years help a business to grow, but the loss of data can lead to company downtime, which could set an organization back months, if not years. In fact, IT experts believe data loss can have a significant financial impact on a company, suggesting the average business could lose more than $400,000 in revenue.

Every company across the country has a responsibility to protect consumer privacy, and data loss could result in a company receiving a significant fine from the IRS. That’s not to mention local or national criticism, a poor online and offline reputation and a lack of customer loyalty. The loss may also cause employees to leave, because they may believe their private information is unsecure at the company.

How to Prevent Data Loss

Every business must protect their data to ensure the privacy and protection of their customers and employees’ data, such as their personal and financial information. It is essential for a company to regularly backup all data across a network, create a secure data storage facility for private information, and to learn how to identify the signs of a hard drive failure so there is time to remove any existing files from a computer before it breaks down.

Avoid DIY Data Recovery

You might have the most talented IT technician on staff but, unless he or she has experience with data retrieval, do not allow them to perform a DIY data recovery. You only need to open a hard drive to make data retrieval almost impossible, because a tiny bit of dust can ruin the mechanics of the hardware. Simply step back from the computer and leave it to the experts to fix.

Data Recovery

In the event a device fails and a company has critical files they need to retrieve, contact a data recovery company to remove any data on the hardware. This will be an organization’s best chance of recovering their lost data. So, do not assume your files have gone forever when a system breaks and hand a device over to an experienced hand to have the data back up and running as soon as possible.