Voyage Tech Blogs

Voyage Technology has been serving the Beaver Dam area since 1999, providing IT Support such as technical helpdesk support, computer support, and consulting to small and medium-sized businesses.

I Lost Data Once… A Collection of Horror Stories; Part 2

I Lost Data Once… A Collection of Horror Stories; Part 2

Here’s a horror story about an entrepreneur who, at a glance, was following many data backup best practices. Unfortunately, at the end of the day, things didn’t go so well when a crucial task was missed.

The Backup That Let Me Down

Story from a property manager

A little background about me; I was formerly a sales manager, and I did things the ‘old school’ way. I learned as much as I could about my prospects so when I’d follow up I’d have a lot to talk to them about. I’d know their birthdays, their anniversaries, their kids’ names, you name it. I also learned that having a detailed record of all of their interactions with my company helped me give them a very personalized touch. 

I was always inspired by my dad, who basically built and ran a series of rental properties with his own two hands while working a full-time job. I scrimped and saved until I could buy the duplex I was living in, and the rest is history.

Today, my properties are my main source of income and my family and staff rely on them. That means collecting rent, paying taxes and payroll, managing utilities, and keeping up with my maintenance team requires a fair amount of logistics.

My dad gave me two critical life lessons that I’ll never forget. The first one is measure twice, cut once, and the second is you can’t do it all, so rely on the expertise of others. I’ve always taken these lessons to heart, but I did have some tricks that my dad never did.

I wanted my apartments to be nice, so many of them include things like Wi-Fi, smart locks, and some even have gates. Some of the commercial properties have even more going on. Either way, managing everything requires a pretty elaborate setup at my main office, and keeping track of tenant names, documentation, and employees is dependent on my IT.

I followed my dad’s lesson and relied on a trusted IT company to set everything up, and when they recommended I get a backup system, I didn’t bat an eye. They set it all up and showed my office manager how to use it, how to restore files if ever needed, and they checked back in a month later to check their work.

That was three years before the event…

The event happened at the worst possible time. We were juggling with some maintenance issues, we had some tenants cycling out, and it was all happening during tax season. Oh yeah, and my office manager was on her honeymoon.

The software that handles all of our internal communication, scheduling, and payroll got corrupted. After a morning of sweating over it myself, I finally called my poor office manager, who was literally on the edge of cell phone service AND roaming on a beach in the Bahamas. She helped walk us through accessing the backup to restore. I had also called and left a message at the IT company that originally set up the backup.

The restore ran, and a couple hours later it said it was finished. We opened up the software but the data was still corrupted. We tried another restore to pull data from a previous backup, and a few hours later we got the same result.

We finally got tech support on the phone and it turns out that the software changed how it stored its data a year ago, so it wasn’t being backed up. Everything else was, but this critical piece of my business wasn’t being backed up at all.

This data was so crucial that we would have had to spend months and hundreds of hours of labor before we would reach normality again. Not to mention the embarrassment of having to go to our tenants with our tails between our legs to collect bank account and contact info. Worst of all, we were made clearly aware of the issue back when our software updated - we just didn’t think it would have affected our backup. We didn’t even think about the backup.

Fortunately, after several days of phone calls and hair pulling, followed by a big fat bill, the data was able to be accessed and we were back in business. Honestly, I would have paid that bill four times over to get my data back (but don’t tell the IT company or the software vendor that, sheesh!).

It could have been prevented, and now we actively test our backups once per month. It only takes us a few hours, and that time is absolutely worth it. We essentially simulate a situation where the only data on our network is the backup, and see if we can run off of that.

Since we’ve been doing these monthly tests, we’ve actually found two other major instances where data wasn’t being backed up, so it’s already saved us from a future disaster.

Test your backups, or else you may as well not have backed up at all!

The Lesson

Thank you so much for sharing that story! Things can definitely change on your network over time, and systems that you’ve set up should be audited to make sure they are performing their job. For example, adding a new device or application on a secure network could lead to that network no longer being secure. The same goes for backup. 

We perform tests of backups in a similar fashion, because if your backup doesn’t contain everything you need, it won’t do you much good when you need to restore from it.

Looking to prevent a future horror story from affecting your business? Give us a call at 800.618.9844 and ask about our data backup solutions.

 

Comments

No comments made yet. Be the first to submit a comment
Already Registered? Login Here
Guest
Tuesday, 16 September 2025

Captcha Image

Sign Up For Our Newsletter!

Mobile? Grab this Article!

Qr Code

Tag Cloud

Security Technology Tip of the Week Best Practices Business Computing Data Business Productivity Software Innovation Hackers Cloud Network Security Hardware User Tips Efficiency Internet Malware IT Support Privacy Google Computer Email Workplace Tips Phishing IT Services Collaboration Hosted Solutions Users Workplace Strategy Ransomware Mobile Device Microsoft Small Business Quick Tips Backup Cybersecurity Passwords Saving Money Communication Data Backup Smartphone Managed Service Android Business Management VoIP Smartphones Productivity Upgrade Mobile Devices communications Disaster Recovery Data Recovery Browser Social Media Windows Managed IT Services Microsoft Office AI Current Events Network Tech Term Remote Internet of Things Artificial Intelligence Facebook Automation Miscellaneous Gadgets Cloud Computing Information Covid-19 Holiday Remote Work Server Training Managed Service Provider Outsourced IT Compliance Encryption Spam Employee/Employer Relationship Office Windows 10 Data Management Business Continuity Government IT Support Windows 10 Bandwidth Virtualization Blockchain Wi-Fi Business Technology Apps Data Security Vendor Two-factor Authentication Mobile Office Chrome Tip of the week Gmail Budget Managed Services Voice over Internet Protocol Apple Networking App Employer-Employee Relationship BYOD Mobile Device Management Conferencing WiFi How To BDR Computing Hacker HIPAA Information Technology Applications Avoiding Downtime Marketing Office 365 Access Control Augmented Reality Storage Retail Password Healthcare Bring Your Own Device Big Data Managed IT Services Operating System Computers Router Risk Management Virtual Private Network Website Health 2FA Analytics Office Tips Help Desk Firewall Excel Document Management Remote Workers The Internet of Things Telephone Scam Data loss Social Cooperation Free Resource Project Management Windows 7 Going Green Patch Management Save Money Microsoft 365 Remote Monitoring Customer Service Cybercrime Vulnerability End of Support Vendor Management Solutions Physical Security Display Printer Paperless Office Windows 11 Infrastructure Monitoring Video Conferencing Money Machine Learning Managed Services Provider Humor Professional Services Saving Time Virtual Machines Safety Managed IT Service Sports Maintenance Mouse Antivirus Downloads iPhone Licensing Administration Vulnerabilities Entertainment Data Privacy Images 101 Customer Relationship Management Settings Telephone System Multi-Factor Authentication Robot Mobility Printing Wireless Cost Management Content Filtering Hacking Presentation YouTube IT Management VPN Employees Meetings Cryptocurrency Wireless Technology Integration User Tip Modem Computer Repair Mobile Security Virtual Desktop Processor Data storage LiFi Holidays Word Data Storage Outlook Smart Technology Supply Chain Addiction Public Speaking Electronic Medical Records Language Employer/Employee Relationships Outsourcing SharePoint Management PCI DSS Lithium-ion battery Chatbots Navigation Writing Distributed Denial of Service Workplace Hacks Entrepreneur Scary Stories Lenovo Gig Economy Screen Reader Service Level Agreement Internet Service Provider Virtual Reality Computing Infrastructure Teamwork Hiring/Firing Fun Server Management Regulations Compliance Private Cloud Identity Evernote Paperless Deep Learning Undo Co-managed IT Superfish Bookmark Identity Theft Smart Tech Memes Download Net Neutrality Twitter Alerts SQL Server Technology Care Education Financial Data Error History Business Communications Social Engineering Break Fix Scams Mobile Computing Browsers Smartwatch Connectivity IT Upload Procurement Remote Computing Azure Hybrid Work Search Social Network Telework Cyber security Application Multi-Factor Security Tech Human Resources Best Practice Dark Web Cables Buisness CES Tablet IoT Communitications Trends Supply Chain Management IBM Alert Legal IT solutions Managed IT Customer Resource management FinTech File Sharing Regulations Dark Data Google Calendar Term Google Apps Business Growth How To Microsoft Excel IT Maintenance Data Analysis Star Wars IT Assessment Gamification Flexibility Notifications Staff Value Business Intelligence Cortana Organization Travel Social Networking Legislation Shortcuts Alt Codes Competition Ransmoware Downtime Techology Fileless Malware Digital Security Cameras Google Maps Smart Devices Content Remote Working Wearable Technology Memory Vendors Hosted Solution Health IT Unified Threat Management Motherboard Data Breach Comparison Google Play Be Proactive Typing Permissions Workforce Unified Threat Management Directions Videos Assessment Electronic Health Records Wasting Time Threats Google Drive User Knowledge Trend Micro Network Congestion Specifications Security Cameras Workplace Strategies Fraud Meta 5G User Error Microchip Internet Exlporer Software as a Service Username IP Address Managing Costs Amazon Google Docs Unified Communications Experience Running Cable Point of Sale eCommerce Black Friday SSID Bitcoin Virtual Assistant Outsource IT Google Wallet Database Surveillance Network Management Tech Support IT Technicians Virtual Machine Environment Recovery Media Laptop Proxy Server Reviews Cookies Hard Drives Monitors Cyber Monday Medical IT Windows 8 Domains Hotspot Transportation Small Businesses Drones Tactics Development Websites Mirgation Hypervisor Displays Halloween Shopping Nanotechnology Optimization Refrigeration PowerPoint

Blog Archive