I’ve recently gone through the process of purchasing a house and I found that all the questions you ask yourself, your realtor and the banker reminded me of the questions that should be asked when searching for the right solution for your business’s Web presence.

1. Land (server - physical or virtual)
Several questions apply to the land you choose to build a house on – location, size, what’s already on it, is there room for growth, cost, etc. These same criteria apply to the right server for your Web presence.  Where will the server be located – in a data center or under the desk in your office? How big and fast does the server need to be? As you think about the other questions you’d ask about buying land for your house, remember – the investment into your Web presence starts with the server - the foundation everything is built on.  

2. Address (domain)
When you invite someone over for dinner, you give them the address of your house not the parcel number that is on record at the courthouse. The street address of your house is provided as a usable identifier, instead of a bunch of random letters and numbers. The same is true for the domain you choose to be your address online. Will your customers be able to find you on the Web with the domain you choose? Is it simple and easy to remember?

3. Building structure (application architecture)
The 3 little pigs built their houses from straw, sticks and bricks. Whatever your house is made out of, it needs to be sturdy. What application structure will hold up your Web application – ASP.NET, Java, SQL, Oracle? Most likely there will be some combination of applications that build your structure, just like most houses are a combination of materials.

4. Front porch (what your client sees)
People drive, walk or run by a house, and something about it catches their eye. Hopefully it’s something positive that they see…a nicely painted, manicured and landscaped lawn, etc. If what people see on your Web site is appealing, chances are higher that they will want to stay and see what you’re all about. If you have an over-grown lawn and weeds in the flower beds, there is a chance the potential client might move right past your house to your competition’s.

5. Utility Room (Administrative Tools)
The heating & cooling system and water heater are vital appliances to keep your house comfortable. Typically they are kept in the utility room away from everyday life and visitors, but you and your handyman have access to keep the rest of the house running smoothly. You can imagine the tools that you use to keep your Web site up-to-date the same way. They are accessible online only to the people that need to know they are there to manage the site your customers see.  

6. Garage (data center)
Where do you store the things you want to keep but don’t use on a daily basis? The kids’ bikes, Christmas decorations, camping gear…I keep mine in the garage where I know I can get to it if I need it. This is true of the data center where your equipment for your infrastructure is kept. You don’t need to physically access it regularly, but you know you can if you need to. It is added space to keep the physical assets of your Web presence secure, but out of the way of the everyday hustle and bustle.  

7. Fence (security infrastructure)
The point of a fence is to keep something in or something out. Implementing a ‘fence’ around your Web presence is the same concept – to keep your business’s confidential information confidential and your client’s information private, as well as keeping potential hackers from compromising the integrity of your data.

8. Security System (monitoring)
ADT and Brinks Home Security are examples of home security systems that if programmed correctly will sound the alarm when the boundaries of your home have been breached.   Because of the time and monetary investment you’re making in your presence online, you should take a look at how you will know if the information you’re protecting with your ‘fence’ is compromised.

9. Handyman (developer/engineer)
Every house needs a little TLC to keep it looking nice and functional for your family. The same is true for your Web presence. As your business grows, it is important to have someone you trust to work with to ensure your Web presence accommodates your growth and business needs. This trusted partner should be a person or company that will care as much about your business as they do about their own. This will free up your time to focus on growing your business.

10. Thermostat (business intelligence)
There is a saying in the Midwest that as seasons change, you’ll use the heater in the morning and air conditioning in the afternoon. As easy as it is to change the temperature on the thermostat for your house, do you have that same luxury with your business? Having the right tools in place to know how hot or cold you business is running is vital to being nimble in the current economy.


People in the technology industry have a tendency to speak their own language, and just like any ‘foreign’ language it helps to see a common picture. Hopefully these analogies help demonstrate the importance of understanding all the various aspects of your Web presence.

Remote data backup is just one service of many that make up the operations of a business, but it's a crucial one for your organization – perhaps more critical than you realize. All remote backup services are not created equally and you should take care to choose a provider that suits both your needs and budget. Most importantly, can you get your data back from offsite storage when you need it? To help you gauge potential providers, here are three questions you should ask – and they should be able to answer.

What kind of software is used?

Software is a very large part of the remote backup industry because a lot of the features available are dictated by the software used. You should ask potential service providers for a very thorough tour or explanation of the software that they use on their hardware.  For example, does it provide for bare metal restores, or restores of failed servers to new servers? Many don’t, which means you have to rebuild the server manually and then do a data restoration to get back up and running.

Do they require software agents? And If so, how does the price vary with the number of servers? Agents are generally small software components that facilitate the process of backing up a remote device. And while they can be made to sound very beneficial, programs that use agents are also largely proprietary and require you to touch every system you want to protect. That means you're tied to that service provider's software, and switching data over to another system could be extremely complex. Technologies have emerged allowing for more efficient remote data backups without the complexity and overhead many agent systems introduce.

What security measures are employed?

Besides just backing up your data, security is one of the most important benefits of off site data backup. The security features offered, however, vary greatly from provider to provider.  You need to understand exactly how it is protected and who has access under what circumstances – and how that is enforced.

Encryption is the most commonly utilized methods, yet there are a lot of 'flavors' for this component. Providers can use different complexities of encryption ranging from 128-bit to 448-bit; a higher number means that it'll be harder for someone to access that data without proper authorization, but it could also alter the speed at which the data can be backed up or restored – more might not always be better.

Data is also encrypted at varying points of the remote data backup process. Some providers will give you just encryption before the data is transmitted or after it has reached its destination. The best ones, however, will encrypt your files both before transmission and while the data is stored on their servers. That way, your data is continuously protected from unauthorized access.  You also need to know how that data can be decrypted. Can the backup service provider decrypt it?  If they’re good at what they do – the answer should be ‘No’. You should hold the golden key and only you and authorized personnel should be able to use it.

How do I get my data back if I need it?

This is extremely important – after all, isn't that why you backed up the data in the first place?

The provider's answer to this question will say how well their systems will work with your company's own IT policies. For example, if a provider will only be able to send data back on regular working days, that'll likely be a road block for your organization's data recovery goals. The best providers would be the ones that can offer 24/7 support and fast system recoveries in case of crashes and downtimes.  Enterprise-class providers allow multiple methods of data retrieval ranging from replicated local copies or point and click restores to full server staging and shipping. You absolutely need to know your options here.  Make a note of which ones make the most sense for you in a few different scenarios.

Choosing an offsite data backup service shouldn't be taken lightly. Your company's most sensitive data could be compromised simply by a service provider that doesn't have the right resources for your requirements. For off site data backup, you should consider not only the providers you can afford but also the ones that can meet your company's goals and standards.  You should be able to answer the question: What happens if I come in tomorrow and our systems are completely destroyed?

In an industry as security-sensitive as that of offsite data backup, it shouldn't come as a surprise that standards and compliance are a big part of the game. Choosing a remote backup service provider can be an important step towards compliance for some companies.  Here are three of the most common compliance requirements you should know.

Sarbanes-Oxley (SOX)

A policy drafted to prevent incidents similar to the 2002 Enron scandal, compliance with the SOX standard is basically a company saying “we're honest and transparent with our records.” To pass a SOX audit, a company has to keep extensive records of events and transactions in order to reconstruct the steps that produced an outcome; not only what the steps are, but who took them and when.

What does this mean for you relative to remote data backup? For one thing, you'll want to be sure the provider is storing your data in a facility that has passed a Statement on Audition Standards No. 70 (SAS 70) Type II audit.  This ensures your data is being stored within a facility that has the appropriate controls in place to effectively manage change and the security of your data.

Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA)

Originally intended for the sensitive information related to medical records such as personally identifiable health information (PIH), HIPAA has also become an important consideration when managing offsite data storage. Backup providers can't explicitly get certified for HIPAA compliance due to the level of interpretation embedded within the act, but they should have specific policies and procedures in place to manage encryption keys, access to data and physical access to the facilities where your offsite backup data is being stored.

Just one section of the HIPAA legislation – that pertaining to Group Health Plan provisions – can apply for offsite data backups. To summarize, a provider that can claim compliance with HIPAA requirements must ensure that only authorized parties can access your data at any time, and that any disclosures are accurately recorded and reported. Aside from encrypted data transmission, HIPAA-compliant providers usually employ passwords, client-exclusive access to data and measures to physically secure the remote backup facility.

Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act (GLBA)

Established by the Financial Modernization Act of 1999, GLBA standards were established to protect customers' financial information. This is a particularly important standard for you if your company collects financial information like billing addresses and credit card data from customers at any point in time.

In the world of remote data backup, a provider that is GLBA-compliant should have a minimum set of policies and procedures to ensure standards are met. The GLBA covers many stages of the process from collection to storage and even to maintenance of stored data. Remote backup services range from personal online data backup solutions to enterprise remote data backup services.  Most enterprise-class systems will meet these requirements and more, however, personal online backup services aren’t always compliant.

Although some of these standards have significant overlap, they also have subtle nuances that make each one unique. It’s a good idea to look for an offsite data backup provider that complies with as many of them as possible. Each standard tends to cover up where another is lacking, and security is one area where offsite backup data shouldn't have any holes.

It might seem that remote data backup is just one more thing to add to your company's expenses, but the service could provide more value than initially perceived. Here are seven reasons why off-site backup might be worth mentioning at the next board meeting.

1. Security is tighter. No matter what your company's niche or industry might be, you still probably handle data that must be kept secure or confidential. That's a little harder to do if your storage is exclusively on-site; human factors and physical proximity add to the risk. Storing data at an off-site facility in an encrypted state with solid physical access controls is exactly what the auditors ordered.
2. Emergencies aren't such a big problem anymore. Whether you're afraid of tidal waves or terrorists, you have the assurance that there's at least a copy of all your data somewhere out there. And because there are hundreds of miles between you and the storage facility, it's highly unlikely that your main office and your backup data will be facing the same threats.
3. It improves productivity. Sure, IT productivity is improved because they’re not rotating tapes or chasing down a tape to perform a backup job; but what about the users that are waiting for that file recovery? If a tape has to be retrieved from an offsite facility and catalogued before the restore can take place, you’re talking an average of 4-6 hours. With remote backup services, a single file can be restored in a matter of minutes and your people can go back to work.   
4. Less maintenance worries. Keeping and maintaining local data storage is a big expense for any company. Power has to be continuously fed to the hardware, the software must be regularly updated, the facility itself must maintained– the list of necessary tasks goes on and on. With off site data backup, however, the service provider takes care of all those concerns for your company.
5. Accessibility is improved. Because data transfers are done over the Internet, remote backups make it easier than ever for executives, systems administrators and IT employees to access crucial data even outside the office. In the event of a disaster such as a fire, information can be accessed and restored to another facility.
6. The technology is mature. You won't have to worry anymore about losing out as an early adopter. And because both the hardware and the software have matured as technologies, finding remote backup services on a less-than-abundant budget shouldn't be too difficult.
7. Overall costs are lower. When you look all the various tasks and responsibilities undertaken by the remote data backup service provider, you'll find the equation very favorable. Instead of focusing so much money and effort toward creating and maintaining your own backup system, you're handing the job over to someone who can do it much more efficiently.

Obviously, off site data backup comes with a cost. But most successful businesses look at ROI, not cost alone.

Are you in a business you wish you weren’t?

Is it IT?

I am frequently asked “what do you do?"  And my general response is “I am in the technology business.” (In actuality I am an entrepreneur.)  Either way, the ensuing conversation has exposed a real challenge: insurance agencies, doctors’ clinics, hospitals, distribution companies, banks, credit unions - you name it - are all reluctantly in the “technology business”; and many are scratching their heads. They wonder: how did we go from a (you fill in the industry here) to a company whose annual IT budget is staggering, and has no idea if they’re doing the right stuff with the right value?

Annual budgets in the tens and hundreds of thousands get approved each year by entrepreneurs, doctors, lawyers, writers, administrators and many more without a strong sense of confidence that those numbers are the right numbers.

But here’s another question: if your company suffered catastrophic data loss due to fire, flood, vandalism or simple hardware or software failure, would you still be in business? That’s a question many business people are not asking.

As a partner in two technology businesses I’ve learned the value of knowing what I know and what I don’t know. I cannot configure a server or a switch. I have no clue how they make it all work. And that’s okay. Our associates do. We at Jelecos and Data Media Solutions have spent the last decade getting really good at what we do. And what we do is have you covered in what I refer to as the “ones and zeros space.”  That’s technical jargon for digital information.

At the beginning and ending of each day, businesses are subservient to the “ones and zeros” and the machines on which they ride. If all your “ones and zeros” evaporated overnight, could you continue to run your business?  If so, how long would it take to restore normalcy?

If you are running a business which has reluctantly found itself in the technology business and this blog makes you queasy, then call a trusted friend and ask for some advice. We’re always available to chat.

Not everybody’s “got milk?” but every business has ones and zeros.   Are yours safe?