If you run a small business, backing up your data is critical. In fact, in the UK, all businesses are legally obligated to keep certain data records for a minimum of seven years. Not doing so could lead to a hefty fine or even prison sentence if vital data cannot be provided upon request.

I recently wrote an article for SME Web that addresses how SMEs with a limited IT budget can still protect themselves against losing critical business files.

SME Web is an online resource for owners and managers of small and medium sized companies in the UK, offering them best-practice advice on how to run their business. If you're interested in reading the full article, click here.

— Dave
CEO, Carbonite

Wow, they just keep coming. Another 5-star review for Carbonite's Mac version, this time from MacUser Magazine: "Verdict: This good value online storage solution is so easy-to-use you'll have no excuse not to back up your files."

Check out the whole review here

— Dave
CEO, Carbonite

Another nice recognition of Carbonite comes from the UK magazine Which? — similar to Consumer Reports in the US. They gave us their Best Buy rating, and that's apparently not easy to obtain. What they said is,

“

This accolade is far from easy to obtain. In fact, Best Buys are only awarded to those products that have performed to the highest standards in Which?'s rigorous testing and analysis, and cannot be requested or bought. This coveted award can be seen in the national advertising campaigns of popular brands including Miele, Panasonic and Procter & Gamble."

“

Our magazines do not carry advertising, we do not accept sponsorship of any kind and — just as a consumer would — we buy all of the thousands of products we test each year. It is for these reasons that consumers can truly trust the unbiased information we provide."

  I was unaware of this magazine, but my friends in Europe say they swear by it. Thank you, Which?.

— Dave
CEO, Carbonite

We just got another 5-star review, this one in IT Reviewed, an important online magazine for IT professionals and technorati. We really appreciate it when reviewers ask a lot of questions and do their homework. This writer, Chris Harris, really appreciated our ease-of-use.

“

If you've decided to use an online backup service, Carbonite is the best in the business. There are many positive points that the service provides including ease of use, the security of off-site storage, and low cost. There's no better online solution than Carbonite. Its hand-holding approach and close integration with Windows makes it accessible to all.

To read the entire review, click here

— Dave
CEO, Carbonite

I get a lot of emails from customers whose files we saved, but a couple of days ago I got one that caught my eye because it was unusually effusive in its praise. I can't resist reprinting it:

“

The unthinkable happened. Somehow, someway, completely unexpected (as it always is), a simple power failure dealt a hand that no one in my household saw coming. Without Carbonite, months of work would have been gone. A book concept, complete with photos — gone. Documents that stretched over a five year period — gone. All of my financial records in Quicken — gone. Valuable photos of my family and my new wife, and our honeymoon — gone. First photos of my brand new grandson, born just days ago — gone.

But thanks to Carbonite — NOT GONE. I used my system restore disk, putting my computer back in service minus all of my files, hoping that Carbonite would be my answer. IT WAS! EVERYTHING was restored. EVERYTHING was recovered. Every file, every photo, every document. I've been sitting in front of my computer, just quietly shaking, stunned that everything that I thought had slipped from my world is back again, safe and sound.

It is impossible for me to properly thank you. It is equally impossible for me to communicate to you what Carbonite has done for my peace of mind and my sense of security. What might have been the equivalent of an electronic tornado has come back as a clear, blue sky filled with soft clouds.

Carbonite, and you, are my heroes. HURRAY FOR CARBONITE!!

Your friend,

Ricky David Tripp”

I have to tell you that NO entrepreneur can resist feeling good when they get a letter like this. We work so darned hard, and this is the best kind of payoff we could possibly get! BTW, check out Ricky's web site, www.rickydavidtripp.com. He's a very talented dude. I have a soft spot for musicians — I was a music composition major in college. Unlike Ricky, I couldn't make a living at it. Anyway, I'm glad we saved all his stuff!

— Dave
CEO, Carbonite

We all know about hard drive crashes and theft, but the following article that appeared a couple of months ago in Techworld totally blew me away. I'm not completely surprised by the spilled food statistic (I remember one of my kids giving me her "dead" laptop. "Zoe, why does your laptop smell like beer?"), but the rage thing was news to me.

One in ten portables downed by 'laptop rage'

Paul Boutin, The Industry Standard20 April 2009

“

A significant portion of damage to laptops is caused by the "anger or frustration" that employees take out on them, a study has found.

That is one of the findings of a new study entitled "Business Risk of a Lost Laptop." It was published last Wednesday by the Ponemon Institute and is funded by Dell, which is using the study to tout its data encryption and recovery solutions.

The report, described by Ponemon as a web-based survey of 3,100 IT and security practitioners located in the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany, France, Mexico and Brazil, found that laptop-smashing employees were cited as the leading cause of damage by one in three respondents in Mexico and Brazil.

The Brits are more reserved: Only 6 percent of UK respondents blamed angry staff. Instead, travel-related damage caused by not taking proper care of the laptop leads among the British, with just over half of UK respondents claiming it was the most common cause of damage.

Americans rate laptop rage and mishandling on the road fairly low - 13 percent and 25 percent, respectively. Instead, 34 percent of American IT pros told Ponemon that "spilling food or liquids on the laptop" is the top cause of damage. But before you roll your eyes at ugly Americans, take note: An even higher 36 percent voted food spills the top problem among the French."

— Dave
CEO, Carbonite

As I've mentioned in past posts, one of the metrics I track every week at Carbonite is how satisfied our customers are with our customer support. Those of you who have interacted with our customer support team know that each interaction is followed by a short survey — that's how I get the data. Over the last 9 months we have made great strides and our "satisfied/very satisfied" numbers are now well above industry averages and still rising.

These improvements, along with the rock solid performance of our data centers, have lead to Carbonite being listed in the PC Pro Reliability and Service Award in the software category. The awards are judged via an open survey that asks PC users to express their views on hardware and software purchased over the last year. Those who are nominated are encouraged to promote voting with their customers in order to help the judges gain as much feedback as possible.

The PC Pro nomination comes on the heels of winning a Webware 100 award where we were voted up by thousands of readers.

If you'd like to participate, please click here to visit the survey. You can just click Next 4 times to get to the software page. Once you've voted and expressed other relevant feedback, you can either identify yourself or just skip to the end of the survey.

Thanks, we appreciate your support and recognition.

— Dave
CEO, Carbonite

Kim Komando sent me this letter that she got from one of her listeners:

“

Dear Kim:

Not really a question...What was I (NOT)thinking????? My husband and I were in Hawaii on business when we heard there was a wildfire in Santa Barbara — near our neighborhood. While trying to keep the panic down, talking with the house sitter who was caring for our two dogs and cat...I suddenly realized — OUR COMPUTERS!!! I had the laptop, but all the real stuff was on my external drive. That little black box..sitting on my desk in a house that could burn down. Our house sitter had already evacuated and wouldn't be able to get back in — perhaps our niece's husband could make his way to and in the house to retrieve the box? He did get it but I couldn't help but think of the ramifications had he not been successful.

The bottom line — I not only GOT how valuable Carbonite was — but I also GOT how stupid of me to be sitting at the airport trying to get back home and have to worry about losing all our data. It's day three and my Carbonite is still backing up. Kim — many thanks for recommending it and oh yes — we still have our house (and Carbonite).

- Maria

By chance, one of Carbonite's investors, Floyd Bradley, lives in the same neighborhood and sent me this picture from his back yard. Better believe he has Carbonite on ALL his computers!

— Dave
CEO, Carbonite

Those of you with laptops ought to read this CNN article about some of the hazards of traveling with your laptop. The biggest risk, of course, is damage. I have probably seen at least a half dozen laptops fall out of overhead compartments over the years. Then theft — Lenovo says that about 10% of all laptops get stolen or lost, most while traveling. Then there are absent minded people like me who leave them on the planes, trains, and (worse) taxis. (Last time I left one in a taxi, the driver found my name and called me a half hour later with an offer to make a special trip back with my laptop for a mere $500. He must have been about two blocks away because he got there in a couple of minutes. That's New York.) The CNN article also mentions the possibility of virus infections and malware courtesy of the public WiFi networks. I hadn't thought about this threat, but I guess it's yet another hazard.

The author doesn't really appreciate what a great solution online backup is for laptop owners. It's so much better than local backups. You don't have to lug around external hard drives or other equipment. When you are connected to the Internet, Carbonite just goes to work wherever you are. I know that the times I've lost laptops, at least I knew that I was backed up almost to the minute.

— Dave
CEO, Carbonite

Our Mac version of Carbonite is still pretty new, but we just got a very good review from 
Pocket-lint.com, a very influential news and review site.

The reviewer noted the ease of use, the simplicity of the restore process, and the unobtrusiveness of Carbonite when it's running. The author also points out some of the advantages of online backup over a local external hard drive using Time Machine. If you're a Mac user, you may want to take a look at this review.

Click here to read the full review.

— Dave
CEO, Carbonite