Half of Plymouth firms still don’t properly back up critical data

It’s estimated half of all businesses in Plymouth still don’t have proper data backup in place – despite the technology being cheaper and easier than its ever been.

That estimate is based on access to industry data, backed up with local observations by Plymouth IT expert Martin Limburn of Limbtec.

“It’s terrifying how many local business owners and managers think their data is being backed up properly,”  Martin said.

“When actually it’s not. I’ve seen some horrors. From one local business owner thinking that because data syncs from their laptop to their mobile it’s backed up… when actually it’s not.

“To another local manager backing up all data properly. But then keeping the backup in their office. Which would mean both copies of the data would be destroyed in the event of a burglary, fire or flood.”

He added: “Most businesses that lose their data simply don’t survive for more than another year. This kind of stuff is dull to people, but it’s really important.”

Martin has worked in IT for 21 years, and is surprised this is still as much a problem today as it was years ago.

He said: “The technology has changed so much in the last decade. It’s now cheap, easy and safe to make copies of all data in the cloud. So your data is safe no matter what happens to your premises.

“Best practice is to have two backups of your data – one in your office for fast access, and one stored off site for safety.

“And your data should be backed up all day every day, without a human ever having to do anything.”

Limbtec was formed in 2002, and now looks after hundreds of local businesses in the Plymouth area.