Written by Cheri Meyer-Palmer, Business Development at Gabsten Technologies
Small business is at a high risk for losing their information, in some instances due to a lack of knowledge in terms of Information Technology (IT) and in other instances due to cost or fear of the unknown. I would like to take you, the NSBC reader, on a journey through data and data management to show you why data is important to your small business and how you can protect it.
We will start by exploring what data is and what sort of data exists within a company and the impact of data loss on a business.
What is data?
In simplistic terms, data is information. That information can take many forms, it can be textual, numeric or photographic. In terms of computer technology, data is information that is used and stored on your computer, this data can be documents, spreadsheets, databases, emails, pictures, client invoices, client billing information, quotes, product information etc.
Why is data important?
Data is important because the information that we as businesses keep on our computer systems, can be highly sensitive. The information stored may be client details, financial records, compliance records and all sorts of other information relevant to your business. Companies need to recognise that data loss is major business risk.
What is the impact of data loss?
If you lost your data, would your business be able to recover? The effects of data loss on your business can affect the profit margin. It will cause unnecessary stress on yourself and your staff and, in some cases, even force the closure of your business.
Some of the biggest effects of data loss are:
- Loss of productivity – hours or days can be spent recovering your data which means downtime for you or your company.
- Legal action – your company can be held liable for negligence if any personal client information is lost.
- Bad publicity – as much as people say that there is no such thing as bad publicity, negative media attention can certainly damage your brand, and the amount of money you will need to spend in damage control may force your business to close.
Contact Gabsten Technologies today to learn how to keep your all-important information safe.
Gabsten Technologies is a proud Partner of the NSBC.