Data and Small Business | Surviving Load Shedding

10 Aug

How your business and its data can survive load shedding

Blackouts caused by the instability of the national power grid have been causing the business community headaches for over a decade, and when load shedding reaches level six, the risk of permanent data loss increases exponentially.

Afrihost server outage disrupts business for over a week

As parts of the country were plunged into darkness for up to 12 hours in a day last month, a major outage at Afrihost’s Melrose Arch server left businesses across the country without access to the internet, emails and other important business data for over a week.

The damage extended to banks and government departments which were unable to access critical information and carry out key activities.

This incident, which was caused by damage to the company’s hardware infrastructure following a prolonged power outage, is just one example of the huge damage that an unreliable national power supply can inflict on the private sector.

surviving load shedding as an SME owner in the time of extended blackouts

Whether you were directly affected by the Afrihost outage or are simply concerned about the safety of your company data during blackouts, here are some steps you can take to keep your valuable business data safe in the cloud and accessible from anywhere, anytime.

physical storage is no longer viable in the era of load shedding

The days when companies stored data in house have been numbered for quite some time, and load shedding has dealt the final blow to the office server.

Companies are increasingly shifting to cloud-based, on demand data storage and electronic business solutions.

Here are some of the functions that can be successfully outsourced to the cloud:

  • Data storage
  • Telecommunications – including virtual switchboard systems
  • Enterprise-wide productivity solutions that are accessible remotely
  • Information sharing within teams, between teams and with clients

cloud storage = load shedding-proof

One of the great things about cloud storage is that it allows all the main functions of business communication and information storage to be carried out. Even when load shedding reaches the extremes of level six and beyond.

  • Cloud-based data storage is decentralised, which means that team members in different parts of the country or around a given city can access data when their electricity supply is stable and track changes that have been made during the downtime caused by load shedding.
  • We recommend that in addition to having secure cloud storage, companies invest in generators, emergency power supplies, and mobile subscriptions from more than one provider since cell phone towers have been known to malfunction or go off-line during severe power cuts.

Soteria cloud offers a full range of secure cloud storage packages that are suitable for businesses of all sizes.

As you prepare your enterprise to deal with the realities of an unstable power supply, our services will help you ensure that your data is always safe, encrypted and readily available.

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