The large amount money lost in an industry due to data loss may suprise you. But you may not care, because that is not the money from your pocket. However, this is not the ultimate result caused by data loss. If you are running your own business, the ultimate result absolutely needs to be carefully evaluated - It is possible you will lose your business and economic well-being.

Today, millions of small businesses grow more dependent each day on their computers and computer systems. Moreover, most businesses store their most vital and irreplaceable business records electronically. According to a report from HP and SCORE “Counselors to America’s Small Business”, the ultimate result can be as follows:

• A Company that experiences a computer outage lasting more than 10 days will never fully recover financially. 50% will be out of business within 5 years.
• An estimated 25% of businesses do not reopen following a major disaster.
• 70% of small firms that experience a major data loss go out of business within a year.
• Of companies experiencing catastrophic data loss:
  • 43% of companies never reopened
  • 51% of companies closed within 2 years.
  • 80% of companies that do not recover from a disaster within one month are likely to go out of business.
  • 75% of companies without business continuity plans fail within 3 years of a disaster.
  • Companies that aren’t able to resume operations within 10 days (of a disaster hit) are not likely to survive.
  •  Of those businesses that experience a disaster and have no emergency plan, 43% never reopen; of those that do reopen, only 29% are still operating 2 years later.

Even though the impact to business because of data loss can be so serious, unfortunately, a survey reveals the fact:

• 25% of users frequently back up digital files, even when 85% computer users say they are very concerned about losing important digital data.
• 37% of the survey's respondents admitted to backing up their files less than once per month.
• 9% admitted they have never backed up their files.
• More than 22% said backing up information is on their to-do list, but they seldom do it.

It seems to backup data is not a simple and easy task, which need to be executed iteratively and regularly. If you are still not sure whether it is worth for you to start data backup as soon as possible, please check how many important files under risk of loss in your computers. For your convenience, there is a free tool called 'BitWay Vulnerability Scanner' that can help you to collect information for analysis with easy.

Recently, all users who are using free AVG anti-virus software on a 64-bit Windows 7 platform may encounter a risk of data loss. Please remember: Late is better than never.