Continued from:

Choosing a Backup Solution: An In-Depth Look and Six Key Elements For Any Backup Strategy; this article is our third and final installment.

Each year, home and business users lose millions of dollars in lost data because the backup solution they’ve elected to use has failed to live up to its promises - often, the result of a failed restore, partially corrupted files, or poor hardware support.

With - literally - millions of documents on the Web related to “backup software,” making an informed decision about an appropriate backup solution can prove to be an extremely challenging and time consuming endeavor.

As we discovered in the previous article: a backup strategy is a great way to determine specific needs, and when it comes to seeking out the most appropriate backup solution. Once your strategy has been formulated, however, the next step in choosing backup software is to identify attributes and features of possible candidates.

Below are Six Points you can use to help identify those attributes:

1. Backup Software: Ease of Use
Some backup solutions offer umpteen different features; however, if the Graphical User Interface (GUI) is not intuitive, all those extra elements can overpower and clutter the functionality of the software. Try and stick to a solution that is fast, reliable, and easy to use.

Ask yourself: How easy is it to install the backup software? How easy is it to implement the first backup? What about a scheduled (automated) backup? How easy is it to restore all or part of the backup? Is the software interface intuitive and does it utilize a familiar Windows-friendly environment? Does the software offer a “backup / restoration wizard?” Is there a help menu or help topics that can assist you if you get stuck?

2. Backup Software: Value for Money
When comparing backup solutions, try not to look at the price tag on its own; rather, try to make calculations based on the relationship between price, functionality, and time spent on backups and restores.

For example: does the vendor offer a limited “bare-bones backup product,” along with pricey “add-ons” that - if all put together - provide the necessary functionality and protection of another, slightly higher priced product?

Time is also a major factor. Beware that some backup solutions can end up being more costly to administer over time. For example: some solutions do not offer strong data compression, and will therefore require more media to create and maintain your backups.

3. Backup Software: Reliability

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Backup Made Easy: A Six Point Guide to Buying Backup Software]

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