Dear Field Service Companies... GO CHECK YOUR BACKUPS!!!

Please. As the voice of reason. Listen to us.

Go - right now - and check your backups.

• Are they running?
• Are the files where you expect them to be?
• Are the files current?
• Can you access the files?

We have touted running backups for years. And yet every year - and in fact just this week - we hear absolute horror stories from customers. Their hard drive crashes and suddenly their business data, the customers, the phone numbers, the schedule, the emails, the QuickBooks (or whatever other accounting system) is all gone. Poof.

It's brutal.

Don't let it happen to you. Don't be that guy (or that girl). So, if you still haven't checked, go do it right now. I'll wait.

...

Did you do it? Are the files also backed up off site? Just because you have a backup doesn't mean you’re safe. What happens if there's a flood/tornado/hurricane/fire/theft? Granted, in those cases you'll have plenty of other things to worry about as well, so make sure your business data is not one of them.

Are you backing up to an external hard drive or thumb drive? It's a simple and affordable solution, just regularly check to make sure your files aren't corrupted, and take it home each night.

A better solution? Check out Carbonite. It's online backup software, and it constantly monitors your files, automatically backing up changes as you make them. And it's always available out "in the cloud". We use it in our office to backup all of our development, accounting, marketing, and website resources.

But whatever you do, find a solution, and don't forget to check it! Your business succeeds because you have learned how to manage data (often with field service software). Don't let that data disappear!