No business owner wants to experience data loss in any way, shape or form, which is why it’s so crucial that preventive measures are taken. If you don’t have protections in place, you may find yourself out of business due to a data loss disaster. While that’s certainly the worst-case scenario, the other consequences of data loss are downright troublesome in their own right.
Here are three of the most common problems that small businesses have to deal with as a result of data loss.
Downtime
The number one culprit of data loss is downtime–or, rather, the inability to continue operations as intended. Downtime is any circumstance where your staff cannot perform their work, and it can have a hefty effect on your budget and negative consequences for your business. Any time that your business isn’t functioning as intended is lost opportunity for revenue. That’s not even considering how much you’ll have to spend in the event of a hardware failure or similar problem. Depending on how long it takes to resume operations, you could stand to lose even more revenue in the long run.
Data Leakage
When you’re losing data, you need to get to the bottom of the issue and find out why. What if your data storage solution was taken over by some sort of external threat, like a hacker or some type of virus or malware? Data breaches are common problems that can expose personally identifiable information, alongside other sensitive credentials like financial information, so you’ll have your work cut out for you if you suspect data leakage of any kind.
A Destroyed Reputation
Would you want your business to associate itself with an organization known to have suffered from data breaches in the past? Chances are that you would be reluctant at best to let any company such as this handle your sensitive data. This means that your customers and clients who trust you with important data, like credit card numbers, will be less likely to consider you over your competitors.
Regardless if they are an existing client, or a potential onboard that has heard about your troubles with data security, they will be much more cautious in approaching you regarding your services. After all, why should they trust your business with their data if you can’t even take care of your own? Plus, your new clients may get nervous upon learning about a data breach and may be tempted to jump ship. Repairing these bonds is nothing short of expensive, so it’s best to prevent this issue in the first place.
While data loss is something that you never want to experience, it’s something worth preparing for. To learn more about how to keep data loss from being the end of your organization, reach out to us at (508) 453-4700.
Information Technology’s Role in HIPAA Compliance
With HIPAA, sensitive patient information cannot be disclosed without the patient’s knowledge or consent. As many healthcare businesses move to electronic health records,...
