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Oops…Backup & Systems Protection

Written by Adrian Caruso, CEO/Master Business Coach of TA Fastrack

Fire, theft, hackers, staff and even a glass of water are potentially costly threat to your travel business.

This week before the start of the seminar presentations an accident involving a glass of water and a computer had disastrous implications for the TA Fastrack team. Yes that is right even out of all the natural disasters and worst case scenarios that could have affected TA Fastrack it was in fact a simple glass of water which was spilt on to the main laptop computer which caused major data loss and disruption to productivity.

In business we all understand the importance of backing up. For TA Fastrack this issue has been a matter a lot closer to home after a scare that could have seen many hours of work and effort disappear as a result of a not taking the time to back up. We all learn from mistakes and I guess this is one mistake we have learnt very quickly.

The process of backing up can be hard to justify and may seem like a second tier priority particularly for travel business given the challenge day to day of running a successful business. Travel businesses are constantly allocating resources to generate immediate revenue or providing services which will keep the business at its peak. However most of the time little or no resources and effort are allocated to backing up and securing years of time, money and effort. Without back up systems though as we have experienced over the past week data loss has severely decreased productivity as staff members have been scrambling to recover the lost information.

In your travel business ask yourself what it is worth to you to loose all your financial records? Your customer database? All your operations and human resources archives?

The answer is… $1000's

So can you afford not to?

When considering the options for backing up you should keep in mind a few points:

1. 1. Security
   a. For company records
   b. Customer records
   c. Data encryption
2. Don't keep all your eggs in one basket
   a. Backup once, twice even three times
   b. Use different mediums to back up
   
3. Testing
   a. Trial the back up system
   b. Re-Evaluate the system annually
4. Plan
   a. Have a contingency plan in action

Most travel businesses won't have a system in place to take care of the just-in-case scenario. In many cases insurance can cover the physical assets but these may be only worth a smaller figure when compared to the loss of a customer database which has a considerable cost. An effective back system pays for itself because sooner or later your computer will crash, die or breakdown it is just a case of when.

The following topics cover areas you may need to look at in your Travel Business:

Office IT Issues.

Matters relating to the management of our desktop and fileserver computer equipment is often a task which is overlooked or outsourced to an external party.

Even though another party may be responsible for the technical side of your computer and telephone systems, there are some responsibilities we should take to minimise the risk of damage associated with the failure or poor performance of Computer equipment in particular.

Office Data (Access Management)

It is important to protect your office data from unauthorised use, whether you have a local area network (fileserver) environment or stand alone PC's.

Fileserver (LAN)

• You should ensure that all users logging on to the LAN have a unique Logon and password.
  
  
• Passwords should be changed regularly (monthly) and re-use of passwords should be prevented
  
  
• All files created by office staff should be stored in personal or common directories which are resident on the fileserver and not on desktop PC's. (This enables all files created in the office to be backed up from the file server without having to back-up all computers in the office.)
  
  
• If possible physical access to our fileserver should be limited to authorised personnel only. At the very least it should be in a protected out of the way place, if it cannot be behind a secured door in a relatively cool environment. Steps should also be taken to ensure the server power switch is not exposed and or easy to accidentally activate.
  
  
• If Internet access for e-mail or web browsing is managed through the fileserver, a well set-up proxy server and firewall will ensure your web access and e-mail traffic is as efficient, trouble free and secure as possible.
  
  
• An industry standard Anti-Virus software package is a prime requirement for any Windows computer connected to the Internet. Anti-virus patterns should be updated at least weekly to ensure our data and computing environment are secure and retain their integrity.

Desktop / Standalone Computers

If not LAN connected should have a Windows password as a deterrent to unauthorised access, and sensitive files stored on the desktop drives should be password protected if possible. Passwords used should be documented and advised along with the file name and location to the office manager or owners nominee.

Remember as with business there is always a hard way to learn the lessons but there is also an easier way. Make sure you take they time review the backup processes, work out what it would cost you to lose your data and then look at ways of managing the data in light of such an event. Otherwise if you don't and that day comes around when you accidentally spilt a glass of water you will only be thinking about 'what if I had just…'

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email, 07 3630 1298, http://www.tafastrack.com