Don Gerrity

Website Recovery Services

The Importance Of A Web
Disaster Recovery Plan – Even For Small Business

By Don Gerrity, Canada Web Pro Small Business Website Solutions

When it comes to offline business the majority of small to medium sized businesses have systems and processes in place to protect their valuable business assets. Yet, when it comes to their Web Assets – are they really protected? Small business needs a website disaster recovery plan too!

Being in the Web Services industry for over 28 years now I have seen some amazing things which most business owners would never think possible to happen regarding their online Web Assets. Losing Domain Names with no way to get them back, complete loss of website designs and content, and I have even seen some very shady web service providers holding their customers ransom to get back the web assets they bought from them! Then you have shady Domain Name Registration service providers that look up Domain Name contact information and send out “Invoice looking Renewal Notices” when in reality they are forms that if signed, transfer the Domain Name from their current provider to theirs, and then they lock them in.

Some big mistakes by business owners that I have seen are regarding one of their most important Web Assets; their Domain Name Registration. A business Domain Name is a business asset of such importance because it is almost as important as their business registered name offline ! It is a Web Asset that customers KNOW and use as part of their very business branding. It needs to be a very secure Asset.

The problem is most business owners are very busy people right? And not everyone is Internet savvy to a degree that is required to managing Web Assets properly. A proper website disaster recovery plan seems to fall behind on their online business strategy many times. After all, that is why businesses like mine exist. If Domain Name Registrations are not renewed on time – that can cause big issues. Sometimes very expensive ones! sometimes it can mean LOSS of the Domain Registration as someone else registers the Domain Name! The problem comes when a business trusts someone who says they know what they are doing – but who actually do not even understand how important a Domain Name is to a business!

As a business owner, do they know who the contacts on the Domain Name Registration are actually set as? I have had potential customers come to me for my expertise in a panic because the person who registered their Domain Name, placed all contact information and email addresses in their own personal name – and not the business owner’s name. In effect, it becomes a not so easy process to regain access to control over the Web Asset because the Registrar must abide to the contact information on the Domain Name.

I have also seen where a web host company just completely goes out of business and the lights suddenly “go out”. It happens. Web providers are businesses too. We see this happens in offline businesses right? But for some reason many business owners do not consider what will happen to their Web Assets if their provider ends up in this position? Without a proper Web Disaster Recovery Plan it could mean a huge disaster on their hands. This can be avoided!

There are things that can be done to protect your Business Web Assets!

#1 Item Of Importance: Keep Your Own Backups!

Keeping plans in place to keep your website, online databases and web files backed up on an ongoing basis is important. Most business owners would say. “But why? My provider backs up my data.”

Yes, MOST web host providers do backup their servers in case of a disaster, hardware failure or server failure. They can restore data onto a new server. However, this is usually a server wide backup to restore and not individual account holder restoration of data; especially on a shared hosting plan which most small businesses host their website with. So, web providers tell customers that their data is safe and secure and backed up.  It is true. They are doing due diligence in backing up your web data (well most provider are, that is.)

Yet, small business owners need to understand that backups can FAIL. And then where is the security? The Terms and Conditions fine print will clearly show that web hosts NEVER GUARANTEE THEIR BACKUPS!  My own Terms and Conditions of Hosting for Webnetave.com, states the very same thing. Why? Because that is just the truth of the matter. As a web host provider, is due diligence is being done to protect my customer’s data? ABSOLUTELY! That said and being done, even backups can fail. the bottom line is that ultimately, it is the responsibility of the business owner to protect their Web Data Assets.

If you do not manage your website files yourself, then you need to have a discussion with the web provider, or web designer, to be sure you have access to keep backups yourself. With my company Webnetave.com this is something I planned into my Web Services. On shared hosting plans we use cPanel and one nice features of cPanel is that it has the ability to back up all your web assets (websites and even databases) with a one click tool. Customers have access to keep backups and it is so important to have as a business owner. WordPress websites that we design and manage have an export tool for their website. It is one of the great things about WordPress (there are many more though! – that is for another article!) Now whether these tools are being used is another question. Canada Web Pro does provide the tool to do so though. I also decided in setting up my Web Services business to offer a fully managed service as well. Yes, the price is higher for such a service. But a big part of the manged services is provided the customer with backups and keeping their Web Assets safe and protected as much as possible – without breaking the bank.

What If Your Business Is Already In A Panic Emergency Mode Because You Think You Have Lost Your Web Assets?

Are you in a bad situation right now? Has your web designer disappeared and you have no way to access your website? Or worse yet, has your website disappeared and your email is offline for days on end with no resolution in sight? Does it mean you have to start all over?

You are not alone. It happens! NOW…… take a deep breath a moment. I may be able to help you with solutions to get you back in business in an urgent emergency care mode.

Why not ask Canada Web Pro for some help? Canada Web Pro can certainly look into the feasibility of recovering as much of your web assets as possible. Even if your website was hosted with another web firm, there is still a good chance that we may be able to retrieve the design of your website and reintegrate with a new website for you.

Canada Web Pro Can:

  • Work QUICKLY and in an emergency urgent mode of operation.
  • Investigate what is possible to recover and what is not.
  • Put together a quick interim plan of action to get your online services back up and running with an interim website, domain name DNS management and email restorations.
  • Once the interim web presence stage is completed, Canada Web Pro will provide you with a detailed proposal for your website services and web assets, including a Website Disaster Recovery plan to be put in place.

And we will not charge you over priced rates when you have been hit with a hard punch either! Normal rates will apply!

And , if you are happy with the results, please consider Canada Web Pro as your new web service provider. We are eager to earn your trust and we can put into place a proper disaster recovery plan so that you do not have to go through this ordeal again.