PropertyLogix

"Our customers need anytime access to information that we provide," says Kris Thompson. "If we were to lose the ability to give that to them because of data loss, we'd basically be losing our entire business."

Thompson founded Gilbert, Arizona-based PropertyLogix, a firm that tracks commercial properties about to go into foreclosure or default. Subscribers to the company's daily email updates depend on PropertyLogix to give them an advantage in the real estate marketplace. When Thompson took a good look at the company's backup strategy—putting new data on external hard drives every two weeks—he knew they needed a more powerful solution for backup reliability.

Just Getting By

Before using Carbonite, PropertyLogix's approach to backup was somewhat scattershot, Thompson admits. The company had only purchased the external drives because they were on sale at a local large retailer; previous to that, no backup had been performed.

"We were just confident that nothing would ever happen to our data," he says. "That's a pretty naive way to operate, and in reality, we were just lucky that nothing happened."

Finding a Stronger Approach

Thompson found out about Carbonite while out one day on his daily run. Listening to a podcast sponsored by the company led him to do some research on the advantages of online backup. He was attracted by the affordability, ease of use, and backup reliability of Carbonite. When he found out that Carbonite also offered a free trial, he signed up.

"I realized how great it would be if we could have all our data backed up without me or anyone else having to do anything, not even punch a button every day," he says. "When I found out that it backs up whenever we update our data, I thought that would be really nice."

Peace of Mind

Once PropertyLogix went through the free trial, Thompson was sold. He was struck by the "hands-off" quality of the system, which left him to concentrate on his work. He also appreciated knowing that his data was secure and private.

"My constant concern before signing up with Carbonite was computer theft," he says. "What if my laptop was stolen? Even if I had data backed up on an external drive, someone else would have access to all my data. Now I don't have to worry."

Some of his favorite features

• The automatic backup

  He appreciates that Carbonite saves all data automatically in the background, freeing him from tedious backup tasks.

• Instant data access

  Since the firm relies on sending out a daily customer email, having access to data at any time is a huge relief, Thompson says. If something goes wrong at the office, the email can still be sent without delay.

• Multiple computer backup

  The six employees in the PropertyLogix office feel relief at not having to do backup chores.

Since switching to Carbonite, Thompson worries much less these days. He says, "We depend on being able to deliver information continuously, without interruption. That's absolutely critical to our business. And Carbonite gives us the ability to do that."