Momentum Magazine January 2018 Edition | Page 5

Are natural disasters and fi res the biggest issue to worry about? Surprisingly, no. Natural disasters only account for about one percent of data-loss events, with viruses, malware, hackers and software problems only causing a combined nine percent of data-loss issues. The most common causes are human error at 11 percent and hardware malfunctions at 78 percent. Computers fail—while proper maintenance can reduce the risk, nothing will completely eliminate it. KENN ANDERSON, JR. Director of Managed Services Ethixa Solutions, LLC Is a backup enough to protect a company from data loss? (610) 871-3734 www.ethixa.com How To Help Your Business Survive a Disaster Event According to the Disaster Recovery Preparedness Council’s 2014 annual report, nearly three out of four of the companies they surveyed failed to adequately prepare for a disaster event, such as an earthquake, hurricane, fi re or tornado. These businesses lost one or more of their mission-critical software applications, lost important fi les and experienced days of datacenter downtime. Twenty percent of the companies surveyed had suffered between $50,000 to $5,000,000 in downtime losses. This month, Kenn Anderson from Ethixa Solutions answers the major questions businesses have when it comes to disaster preparedness. Often, it isn’t. While backups are very important, it is important to make certain that you are backing up the right things. If a system goes down, you want to be sure that you can restore business operations, not just data. This means being able to restore applications, licensing, settings, etc. It is also important to test backups so that you know that you can restore from them in an emergency situation. What can a business to do be prepared? All businesses should identify their important business functions and the resources those functions require, then they should implement appropriate methods for backing them up. Backups should be tested regularly with copies maintained on and off-site. Implementing security policies as well as an IT maintenance plan is also recommended. Chamber Business Incubator Program Hosts President and Chief Executive Offi cer of INBIA The Greater Scranton Chamber of Commerce’s Business Incubator Program recently hosted Kirstie Chadwick, president and chief executive offi cer of INBIA, the International Business Innovation Association, at The TekRidge Center. INBIA is a global non-profi t organization with more than 2,200 members who lead entrepreneurship support organizations in 62 countries. It provides industry best practices through education while enabling collaboration, mentorship, peer-based learning and the sharing of innovative ideas for entrepreneurs across the globe. “Business incubators and entrepreneurship centers are critical anchor organizations within entrepreneurial ecosystems,” Ms. Chadwick said. “Over the past ten years, incubators have morphed from offi ce buildings into thriving community hubs where entrepreneurs are able to connect, collaborate and fi nd critical resources needed to build companies that drive regional economic growth.” Ms. Chadwick has more than 25 years of experience at technology companies, including Sun Microsystems, Mentor Graphics and Lockheed Martin. She has also held executive roles at fi ve venture- backed technology startups, including her role as co-founder and CEO of DigitalOwl. “The Greater Scranton Chamber of Commerce’s Business Incubator Program is pleased to have the opportunity to host the Ben Franklin Network Business Incubator Manager meeting at The TekRidge Center, said Aaron Whitney, Chamber Business Incubator Program Manager. “We are especially excited to have Kirstie Chadwick with us to speak on the state of business incubation from an international perspective. This event provides us with an opportunity to showcase our many entrepreneurs and their success in northeastern Pennsylvania.” www.scrantonchamber .com • 5