Foundation Real Estate Advisors Inc.

"Before, we were just muddling through backup," says Jeff Lerch. "Basically, we had to cross our fingers that nothing would go wrong. That's really not a great way to run your business."

As president of Irvine, California-based Foundation Real Estate Advisors, Lerch started to become concerned about the way his company's data was being saved. Because the company used on-site external hard drives, he felt they were just one natural disaster away from losing everything. "No one takes those drives home at night," he says. "Essentially, our backup strategy would be useless if anything happened to our office or our equipment."

Looking for a Better Way

As a real estate advisory firm, the company generates a significant amount of documentation, Lerch explains, including land surveys, PDF files, client information, and other data.

Just before an office move, Lerch took a hard look at how all of this data was backed up, and he didn't like what he saw. The company had been using external hard drives with scheduling software. The applications reduced some of the manual backup chores, but Lerch still felt uncomfortable with the lack of security presented by having the drives on-site.

He considered switching to a tape drive system that would be stored off-site, but that would mean Lerch or another employee would need to bring the drives home every evening, which seemed both tiresome and potentially dangerous. If the drives were damaged in transit, for example, the company would lose a day's worth of data. And if Lerch were to forget to bring the drives back in the morning, he'd have to figure out a different way to do backup for that day.

Finding a Fresh Solution

While researching options online, Lerch came across information about Carbonite, and suddenly the solution was clear. "It was one of those 'a-ha!' moments where you know that it's just what you need," he recalls.

The company used an IT consultant for some of its technical issues, but Lerch didn't want to hire a full-time IT person when the firm moved to its new offices. With Carbonite, he knew that he wouldn't have to make the hire, and also wouldn't need the consultant to set up the backup system.

Peace of Mind

Setting up Carbonite was incredibly easy, Lerch notes: "Even someone with only a basic knowledge of computers could do it."

Since then, he hasn't worried about any natural disasters or equipment failures, and can concentrate on work instead of backup issues. "It does all the backup work for us and we don't even have to think about it," he says. "That's been a big relief."

Some of his favorite features

• Easy setup

  Lerch didn't look forward to paying outside IT consultants to create a new backup system, and with Carbonite's simple installation, he didn't have to.

• Scalability

  Lerch wanted a backup system that could accommodate more employees and increasing amounts of data as the company grew. With Carbonite, he got his wish.

• Simple interface

  The small icon on a computer that is running Carbonite lets Lerch and other employees know that it's working, and they appreciate the simplicity of the functions.

"With other systems I used, I just didn't have the same level of confidence that my data was safe," says Brown. "Now, I finally have that confidence."