Backup Services

Abtech provides Backup and Disaster Recovery services (BU/DR) that provides real-time protection of both physical and virtual servers, as well as workstations and laptops. Offsite replication can immediately and automatically transfer and store files safely away from the business location. Abtech’s backup services are designed to ensure that your company’s digital assets are safe and sound. Through close interaction with your organization’s IT staff, Abtech can provide the right backup solution for your company regardless of size, amount of data and timeframe.

PC Backup:  Every PC backed up daily – making individual file or complete system restores possible. This is one of the most overlooked tasks in the desktop environment. While most organizations have users store their files on servers which are backed up, it is very common for user files to end up on their local machines, where the chances of data loss are much greater when compared to files stored on a server.

Example: A user needs to work late or over the weekend on a document when the network is inaccessible. Knowing this, the user has saved her document in progress to the My Documents on his or her workstation to ensure that the file will be accessible. When the user finishes her document, the final copy is saved but because the document was saved locally there is no trace of it on any of the company’s servers and as a result the file never got backed up. As time goes, the user has presumed that all their documents are still backed as part of being on the network. If this user’s PC gets replaced or dies, so will the document that was created with it resulting in lost productivity and end user frustration.

Server Data Backup: Constant backup of server data, making individual file or crucial full server restoration possible.

Full Server Restore: Abtech's staff of engineers can restore server configuration and data should a disaster strike your organization. While often overlooked or ignored, an organization is very vulnerable without a sound disaster recovery plan. This plan goes far beyond the mere replacement of the material things such as desks, phones and PCs. The one thing that is irreplaceable, without a sound & tested recovery plan, is the company user data.

A Disaster Can Occur Anywhere, Anytime:
When the subject of natural or man made disasters comes up, a common and very human reaction is to assume, "It won't happen to me." Unfortunately for many small business owners and IT managers, this is an assumption they've lived to regret. Studies show that each year, about one in every five businesses faces a major disruption. It may be as smallas simple data loss as a consequence of a power outage to a natural disaster that destroys an entire office.

At a time when IT systems and networks have become crucial to nearly every small business, a catastrophe can result in a crippling revenue loss, delayed collections, shareholder lawsuits, a major productivity drop, and even a damaged reputation that weakens vital relationships with customers, suppliers, partners, creditors, and others.

The solution, most IT managers would agree, is proper planning: a disaster preparedness and disaster recovery strategy and implementation plan that ensures that the business survives and recovers from even the most severe catastrophe. While there are many key issues to consider when developing such a plan, there are four that deserve special attention.

Performing a Business Impact Analysis

A business impact analysis allows you to identify both tangible and intangible effects on business processes, functions, or departments over time. Not only does it provide management with the information necessary to identify recovery priorities and develop an effective recovery strategy, but it also supplies the data that helps define an appropriate disaster recovery program budget. For IT systems and networks in particular, a business impact analysis is invaluable in two ways. First, it identifies business critical applications and the systems they run on. Second, it finds areas of vulnerability within the environment that can then be addressed.

Never Underestimating the Importance of Backup

It doesn't take an earthquake, hurricane, or fire to destroy data critical to your business' success; a single virus, water leak, or employee error can do the job. This is why a comprehensive strategy for backing up critical data is indispensable for today's small businesses.

• Data Prioritization: identifying and deciding which data cannot be lost under any circumstances
• Testing: checking regularly to validate the effectiveness of backup and restoration capabilities
• Off Site Storage: storing tapes or replicated systems off site and taking other steps to minimize disaster before it happens

Once your DR plan has been researched, designed, created, put in place and tested, there is an overwhelming desire to think that the job is finished. However, just as your business changes, your IT environment changes; and your IT department should continue to modify and improve your disaster recovery plan.

Rather than seeing it as a project that is done, it's important to see this plan as one that constantly needs to be reviewed, revised, and improved upon. If you do this, you'll be sure to have a DR plan that is effective if a disaster ever strikes.

Seeking Outside Help

There are a number of reasons why it makes sense for small businesses to turn to outside IT service firms to help them address their disaster recovery requirements. First, most small businesses don't have the in house staff to conduct a thorough assessment, select the right solutions or continuously upgrade them to keep pace with their business requirements. Second, an outside firm can provide an objective evaluation and recommend more effective solutions based on their extensive experience.

• A strategic perspective that considers your company's key business goals before developing a disaster preparedness plan