Page 4 - LBMAO - Jul-Aug 2023 REPORTER - web optimized

LETTER FROM THE VICE CHAIR

PREPARE FOR EMERGENCY,

PRESERVE YOUR DATA

BARBARA SCHERING

LBMAO Vice Chair
CashierPRO Retail Systems Inc., North Bay

ur chair, Rebecca Gravelle, is on maternity leave, and we look electronically. Anyone who has ever lost their cell phone or had it crash
Oforward to her introducing us to her new family member. I have knows how lost you are without it.
been asked to try and fill her spot and share some thoughts with you. If your business operates on a cloud-based system, do you have a
Most of us are now enjoying beautiful summer weather after method of accessing the data if your internet is out for an extended
dealing with wildfires, flooding and dangerous air quality. The period? Consider saving financial reports on an external drive,
wildfire season is just starting, as is the severe weather that heat and especially if you are on an evacuation alert. The employees working
humidity bring. Some of our areas have been evacuated or put on with this data may be using laptops and could simply take them home.
evacuation alert. Are you prepared if this happens to you? Different Email the list of your technical support, employees, and emergency
agencies provide lists of what a family should have in an emergency contacts to the key staff members and ask them to keep it on their
kit to prepare you and your family. They also provide a checklist for phones. If your business has specific emergency protocols, email those
evacuation orders. as well. By preparing for the worst-case scenario in advance, we are
Businesses should have similar checklists. Your health and safety much calmer if an emergency does occur.
committees will have plans in place to take care of staff in the event Now that the tough talk is done, don’t forget to check the LBMAO
of an emergency. Do you have a similar plan for your data? Even a app or website for upcoming training. There are online options
prolonged power outage at your place of business may mean you available, as well as in-class courses.
need to access your data from another location. You need to be able to Enjoy the summer and play some golf with other LBMAO members
access current receivables and inventory valuations for your insurance at the Muskoka Golf Tournament on August 24 th in Severn and
company. Therefore, every business should back up its crucial data the Southwestern Golf Tournament on September 7 th in London.
daily and take the backup off-site. You should regularly check that your Registration is available on the events page of our website. Details on
backups are working and that the data can be restored. If your backup the Cool Car Ride should be available soon.
is to a cloud platform, a regular backup to an external drive should I wish everyone a safe and enjoyable summer and hope to see you
be done, as the internet may not be available when needed. Your at an upcoming event!
fireproof safe may not protect the data on a USB drive. Although the
papers in the safe may not burn in a fire, the heat inside the safe could
compromise the data if it doesn’t melt the flash drive.
Many of our customers ask me how often they need to do a backup.
My response is always how much of your business history are you
comfortable losing? When friends or family ask me if they should
backup their computers or their cellphones, my response is basically
the same. We now store the majority of our photos and contacts

4 LBMAO Reporter - July-August 2023 www.lbmao.on.ca