The biggest IT mistake a small business can make is to have a reactive IT plan. A “reactive” IT strategy is usually synonymous with no IT strategy at all, which can be costly and frustrating. However, if you find after reading this post that you also have a reactive strategy, you’re not alone – most small businesses don’t really have an IT plan. For smaller businesses it’s difficult to know what level of IT is appropriate and cost effective. However, when you think about backups and maintenance, saying ”I’ll worry about that when it happens” is the most inappropriate and expensive thing you can do. The good news is that it’s never too late to formulate a proactive strategy.

Imagine not having a backup plan, and you come into the office one morning to find that there’s no data in your accounting system. Whether it’s an off-the-shelf piece of software, like Quickbooks, or just a very complicated spreadsheet, imagine what you would do. Let’s say you’re so small you don’t need an accounting system per se, imagine instead it’s your email. If you’ve never really thought about backing up data, this can be a very sobering thought; you’re now in a position to try to remember what data was there and re-create it. Take heart, this exercise alone is moving you from a reactive to a proactive strategy.

Most companies have at least thought this far ahead, or have gotten advice from passer-by IT enthusiasts or professionals that say, hey, you really should back up your data. So you’ve gone to purchase an external hard drive, or if you’re a bigger company, maybe even a network attached storage device. You’ve either written some scripts (or found someone to do that) or used software to back up your data. Now you’re covered, right?
 

Unfortunately no, not yet. I have seen time and time again small folks testing their backup strategy when it’s too late to do so. Picture firefighters showing up to put out a massive fire, and one hose nozzle won’t stay on, another hose has a huge hole in it and a fire truck never even made it because the truck won’t start. Not good. Can you recover files? Is the interval that your files are being backed up a proper one; do you know when an interval fails? Taking a minute or two to check in from time to time on these questions isn’t optional when you’re proactive about your IT.
 

Thinking through to the end of potential/likely IT or systems problems, making decisions and being intentional about your decisions, and re-evaluating twice a year or after problems occur is representative of a healthy, proactive IT plan.