One core element of any business is the ability to recover from a disaster quickly.  For computer systems this means regular backups on a schedule that makes sense to your business.  This can be anywhere from once a week, once a day, or even once an hour.  You can even backup as frequently as every 15 minutes!

Backing up systems can get expensive and if you never experience an issue it seems like lost profit.  However, statistics show that more than 60-80% of business that lose all their data in a disaster never fully recover.  They close within 2 years.  As businesses are more integrated with computing systems, and now more integrated with the Internet, the loss off data can be utterly catastrophic to a business, regardless of it’s size.

To determine a budget, think about what the impact of being shut down due to loss of computer systems means to your company.  How much impact will there be if you’re down for a day?  What about a week?  For some, losing a week would blow the profit margins for an entire year.

There are several elements and subsets to consider to find the right fit for your business.  This simple form should help you determine your best choices to fit your business needs and your budget.