How do I protect my business from computer failure?

 Computer failure can be catastrophic for business due to,
-                       loss of function (e.g. no longer being able to invoice customers)
-                       loss of data (e.g. all information disappears)
-                       loss of performance (e.g. system goes excruciatingly slow)
-                       data is inaccurate (e.g. invoices do not total correctly)

These can arise for several reasons and each can have more than one action to protect yourself; namely

-                       hardware component failure

although computers are quiet resilient, the hardware components will fail. A failure of the harddisk can lead to total loss of data, whereas loss of other components could make the computer inoperative or mean that the performance will be degraded.

To protect against loss of data, ensure that you do regular back ups on to another media (e.g. Floppy diskette, DAT, CD ROM or ZIP drive).

To protect the electronic components from power surges install power cleaners. 

Ensure that the computer processor is well ventilated. 

Ensure that the fan is operative. 

Ensure that the environment is clean and there is no excessive dust and dirt.

 To ensure that peripherals can be reinstalled, ensure that you have the original drivers on diskette or CD.

 -                       organisation of the computer

 As you use the computer, data will build up on the harddisk. This data will not only include documents and records that you write but also temporary files generated by the office tools and downloaded from the Internet without your knowledge. 

Over a periodof time these will reduce the amount of free space on your disk and cause the harddisk to be become disorganised. Many modern computer harddisks are relatively very large and the chances that casual use will fill them up is relatively remote, but it is recommended that you keep a watch on the free space and if it falls below 20%, delete unnecessary files. Ensure that your Internet Browser setting only retains temporary Internet files for a short period. These Internet files though do speed Internet performance by eliminating the need to download the same data from the Internet repeatedly.

 To reorganise the data on your hard disk execute Defragmentation routines.

-                       inaccurate data

There is a phase in IT ‘Garbage In Garbage Out’ which means if you enter wrong information then information provided will also be wrong. Although this appears obvious,  it is surprising how many errors result from this basic reason.

To ensure against this, set up procedures that can:

-                       ensure that all data that should be entered can be accounted for
-                       that the data entered is the same as the data that should be entered
-                       that the data on the computer can be cross referenced to any hard copy and a audit trail of the data processing is maintained.

Although, these will not stop data transcription errors and omissions they will allow for them to bedetected and corrected.

Also, it is possible for the software itself to generate errors through misuse or system error.

When using a new system that has not been fully tested, then perform your own tests to ensure the accuracy of the system. This includes when developing new spreadsheets with formulae and macros, generate a work sheet doing any calculations manually and then enter the same information into the spreadsheet to ensure that the calculations are correct; it is very easy to enter or generate a cell’s co ordinates incorrectly especially when copying.

This also applies when using a new commercial system (package) to ensure that you understand the functions of the system correctly. It is advisable if possible to set up a test system where you can experiment without impacting the live system.