Have you ever heard of Murphy’s Law? It’s the notion that anything that can go wrong, will go wrong – and usually at the worst possible time. Never has this seemed more true than when it comes to running your business and managing your IT. Usually this is because things seem to be working fine, but then a big change of circumstances throws a spanner in the works and that problem you never knew existed rears its ugly head. For many businesses across the UK, that big change in circumstances is the so-called Beast from the East. Are you waiting nervously for that problem you never knew existed to crop up?

We take weather seriously in Britain. It can drastically alter our plans, and can greatly influence how our working day unfolds. This impacts businesses in all sorts of ways, from power outages and backup recovery issues, to crucial members of staff having to work remotely due to dangerous driving conditions. The greatest test for a business is how you prepare for these unavoidable circumstances and how able you are to ‘weather the beast’ in this case. One of the best ways you can prepare from an organisational standpoint is to create a set of defined procedures that everyone follows. You also need to have the tools and systems in place to allow your business to carry on unhindered during the most inhospitable conditions. In the event that your business will have to close during adverse weather or some other minor catastrophe, you at least want to know that your data is safe and secure.

Data that’s always on, always available

Nowadays, data is the beating heart of every business. Lose it, and you lose everything. Lose your customers’ data, and you could face some hefty legal proceedings. That’s why it’s absolutely essential to ensure that storage, backup and recovery strategies are clearly defined with the right systems in place. For huge organisations this is par for the course, but small and medium sized businesses can really struggle during such times. A modern storage, backup and recovery strategy will ensure that you have ‘always on’ and ‘always available’ access to vital data, regardless of what’s happening on a localised level, so that business can carry on unhindered. If a blizzard hits and you lose power and productivity, at least you’ll know that your data is still accessible by key people thanks to cloud technology…

Let cloud technology weather the storm

Clouds are often the omen of bad weather, but storing your data in the digital cloud is the best way to avoid it. Localised backup is fine, but it will only serve you up to a point. If there’s a fire or a lengthy power cut, you could land your business in big trouble. That’s why the vast majority of businesses in 2018 choose cloud software and management services like Microsoft Azure, complete with back up and site recovery added as a service. The cloud affords your business complete peace of mind, never needs to be actively maintained and needs no physical space in your organisation. What’s more, we can roll out solutions like Azure for your business seamlessly, so you never need to worry about what’s going on under the bonnet if you simply want to enjoy the ride and manage your business hassle-free.

As an example of what’s possible, here are just a few things your business can achieve with Microsoft Azure’s Backup and Site Recovery features:

Hugely reduce unnecessary costs – Not only can you pick and choose the data you want to protect and back up, you can also choose to backup entire machines or individual files or folders. That means you can tailor a backup solution that’s right for you, protecting the most important aspects of your business without blowing valuable resources on redundant or unimportant data.

Access all information from a central dashboard – Backups are seamless, and all data that’s backed up will be available from one central dashboard. That means you can make snap decisions on what you want to back up or restore as your circumstances change. This covers you in all instances, from bad weather and data corruption to failing hardware and viruses. In a few clicks, you can have entire systems restored to their original state, complete with all the data that was backed up.

Defend you business against ransomware – Ransomware is a huge threat in today’s digital climate. All it takes is someone with ill intentions to get ahold of your data and your business could be held to ransom in order to retrieve it. This can destroy smaller businesses and severely cripple even the most global and successful brands. Microsoft has considered this. That’s why any unusual activity on your backup server will be immediately flagged, and any unauthorised deletion of data will be kept in a cache for a period of days. This will give you time to secure the network and your working environment before starting the recovery process.

The importance of staying connected

Agile working is on the rise. Many of us choose to work from home or other remote locations, and in some instances, we’re even forced to due to adverse weather like the ‘Beast from the East’. Thanks to modern day cloud telephony solutions like Horizon, you can equip your staff with a complete and robust connectivity solution no matter where they are in the world. They can take their phone lines with them, work in real-time with others and access everything they need remotely. Even if the local internet goes down, the system can use the strongest cellular network or run off fixed lines to keep your staff connected. Here at Equity, we’ve helped countless customers – big and small – make the leap to cloud telephony. We can take care of every aspect of the migration, leaving you free to run your business in the meantime. We believe that you should only pay for what you need when you need it, and scale up as you grow.

If the latest change in the weather has gotten you concerned about your IT systems and whether or not they’re sufficiently secure or backed up, why not give us a call?  We’re specialists in technology migration, data security and software rollouts, and can manage all of your IT needs from end to end. For a limited time, we’re even offering businesses in the Greater London area a free, no obligation on-site healthcheck. If you’re interested in booking an afternoon for us to come to your site and assess your network, call 01442 217 099 today.