backup

01/09/2019 By Jason Bean Leave a Comment

Your End Of Year ERP Checklist

Running ERP software in your business will make it much more efficient, and you will be able to get a lot more done this way. Many of the systems and processes that used to take a lot of time, or that you had to delegate either to a staff member or to a third party (which could be expensive) can now be done automatically by whichever ERP you are running.

It doesn’t mean, however, that you can just ‘set and forget’ at this time of year. As the year draws to a close, you should take the opportunity before heading off on your holiday break, to make sure that your ERP is working exactly as you want it to. Follow our handy checklist, and you can go home for the holidays without worrying about it at all.

Back It Up

Although everything you do on an ERP program should automatically be stored in the cloud, it is worth checking this to ensure that it actually is happening. If not, and something was to happy to your office and computers, would you be able to recover those files? It would be unlikely unless there were another backup somewhere.

Backing up your work is one of the most critical elements to being prepared and in control and Dobson.net offers some great reasons why. You do it in the hopes that you never have to use that backup, but it is there if you do need it and that offers you complete peace of mind. Plus, it is no longer such a time-consuming task. You can even leave it running in the background while you use the computer for other things such as online Christmas shopping or Unibet games.

It’s not just a matter of hitting the button and thinking it’s all done though; you should check that the file is readable and complete once the backup is finished. Then you can step away knowing that the backup is ready.

Check The Automation

The point of an ERP is to automate many processes. This could include, amongst other things:

Contract renewals
Customers data updates
Newsletters (check out TriDigital Marketing for why a newsletter will benefit your business)
Price changes across your business

However, when was the last time you checked that your automation was doing what you want it to do? Now is the perfect time to do just that. You can ensure that newsletters are being posted with the right information and that your lists are up to date. You can also check the frequency of any updates and backups. It won’t take more than a few minutes to check that everything is working in the way you want it to, but that check can save a lot of problems further down the line.

Make Hard Copies

Although this is not something that you will normally find advocated on many cloud pages, making a hard copy of the most important contracts, invoices, and other documents is a good idea. Print them out and keep them in a secure, fireproof safe, ideally away from the office if you can. It could include payroll information and financial records that will be needed for tax purposes. It is better to be safe than sorry, and having one extra copy of the most important documents for your business certainly can’t hurt. If the absolute worst were to happen, you could still continue trading.

05/24/2017 By Jason Bean Leave a Comment

Why Every Business Should Have Backup Power

This has been an unusual year in that there were weather anomalies across the entire nation for most of December through April. If all those snow storms, floods, and tornadoes didn’t hit home on the importance of backup power, nothing probably will. Not only was this a bad winter from a climatological perspective but the past decade has been one of drought in the Northwest of the nation and there were multiple fires that wiped out entire neighborhoods and small towns. Consider the following reasons why you, as a small business owner, should seriously check out generators for sale so that you can be prepared.

Security from Theft

Everything in your place of business is dependent upon electricity to remain secured. Even your security system has a backup battery that is only good for a brief period of time, usually only a couple hours so backup power is vitally important. Also, nothing from your cash register to your store lights will work without power so it is important to have a reliable backup source. Police stations have backup power for this reason and fall within FEMA’s guidelines for best practices. You should do the same to protect your place of business.

Protection against Loss of Product

Some businesses that hold hot or cold food need to be assured they can maintain temperature control. If a storm should suddenly sweep through downing power lines, it could be days or weeks before power is restored. Your entire inventory would spoil and you would be out a huge amount of money. Even insurance may not cover your total losses.

Ability to Remain Open When the Competition Is Closed

Not every business owner in your town is going to be as prepared as you are. For as long as the power is off, you will find that their customers in need of what you sell will wander over to your business. Some of them may remain loyal customers ever after simply because you were organized and prepared enough to have power in place to continue operations.

Public Service to the Community

Along those lines, what if you were running a grocery store that sold baby food, milk, diapers and medical supplies? What good would it do to have those items in stock if your lights wouldn’t turn on and your computer or cash register wouldn’t work? Yes, you could calculate sales longhand, but how would anyone see to actually do any shopping? By ensuring you have continued power even during a major disaster, you will be doing a great public service and the community will remember you for it.

These are just a few of the reasons why every business should have backup power. There are a great number of other reasons, but the point is made. If you want to protect your inventory, in fact your entire place of business, you want to ensure a continual supply of power to anything run by electricity. There is no telling when the next disaster might strike, manmade or natural, so it is in your best interest to begin looking at generators for sale now. Don’t wait until it’s too late because no one would be able to sell you one at that time and you’d experience all the above losses and so many more. Always plan for the best but prepare for the worst. Get that generator today!

01/23/2015 By Jason Bean Leave a Comment

Keeping Things Organized on Your Computer

I'll be honest, I'm a little OCD in a variety of areas on my life. Normally one of those is how I keep things organized on my computer.I'll be honest, I'm a little OCD in a variety of areas in my life. I always liked to gamble, but I didn't like the atmosphere of the casinos very much, but I did like to play.

The challenge lately is that I've been so busy I haven't had the time to organize my files the way I normally do. You can tell when I'm staying busy if you look at my Desktop and there are shortcuts and files everywhere. My computer Desktop functions very much like a desktop in my real-life: a flat surface where anything and everything ends up landing until I take the time to work through the piles and sort things into the appropriate archives or in Circular Bin #13.

I came across this handy little graphic from SingleHop that offers private cloud hosting. The graphicÂ helps someone take a few weeks and get things organized on their computer and then coordinate how they can then start archiving those files for back-up purposes on cloud server storage online.

Clean Computer Calendar — Click to Enlarge

I use quite a few different cloud hosting storage options depending on the different files and needs that I have. I use services like Google Drive, Amazon Cloud Drive, Box, Dropbox and good ol' FTP to keep things organized. The key to any of these services and all of these efforts is to think about what you need and then find the option that works best for you and your system.

Whatever you choose though you need to be sure you keep things organized and updated, and BACKED-UP! Don't let the next time you think about getting a back be when you actually needed to have one. And remember, get a gaming desk to keep organized. Take care of it today so you'll be ready for the day that you hope never comes that you actually need it.