The typical home office generates a surprising amount of digital data. Whether it’s proprietary information about the business itself or customer records, even the smallest company might be responsible for a dozen different data sources. And companies of any size run on data. It’s essential to nearly every business function, and should be treated with care and the utmost protection. Unfortunately, many home office business owners do not treat data as a valuable asset, and then expose themselves to loss.
Thankfully, there are some steps companies can take to organize, store, and protect data:
1. Create a data management plan. A home office does not require an 80-page disaster recovery and data management plan, but a simple plan is a very smart move. The plan should detail the various sources of data that are managed by the business and then detail who has responsibility for the data. A written plan means accountability and transparency. For a home business with one or two workers (besides the owner), a plan helps delineate each person’s role in keeping data safe. They understand if they should or should not have access to certain types of data, and will know if they are responsible for tasks such as data backups or routine deletions.
2. Organize the data. A home business owner that generates a considerable amount of data should focus on collecting the information into a centralized and organized location. So if they have a mix of website analytics, email, survey data, images, and other virtual content, there should be a system to store all of the data in a centralized location. This helps keep the information safe and can also improve efficiency and productivity. If the owner wants to see how their website performed during their email blasts, it’s easier to compare and correlate the data when it’s readily accessible. Organization brings us to the next point, which is to protect the data from loss.
3. Backup the backups. Organizing the data into a central location does not mean you should not duplicate the information for safety. So if you collect all of your financial information, customer data, emails, and collateral, then you cannot simply leave it all on a single laptop. Use a mix of physical storage (external hard drives) and cloud storage (Amazon, Google, etc.) to provide you with additional layers of protection. External hard drives are inexpensive and offer a simple way to store files securely. Simply copy your files over to the drive and then store it in a secure place. Cloud storage is also cheap, and gives you the flexibility to access your data from any internet-connected location. So if you occasionally leave the home office, you can still access what you need to get things done.
4. Maintain compliance with regulatory standards. You might not think your home business falls under any compliance standards, but consider the types of data that you might hold. If you possess customer data (especially financial information), then you likely have what’s known as PII (Personally Identifiable Information) that might be subject to certain regulations. What this means is you could be required to follow guidelines on how you hold data and how it moves between various entities or systems. Unlike a big company such as Target that survived a data exposure (because they have billions in cash), your home business would likely not be able to recover from a personal information data breach.
5. Manage data access. With a one-person operation, there is still the need for data access controls. For example, a home office owner should use complex passwords to protect access to their hard drives and cloud accounts. They also should not share password information with anyone outside of the company. If this single owner uses an outside vendor, they should be restrictive about the access rights given to the third-party to prevent them taking valuable information. It could be customer data or proprietary business data that is stolen, which would put the entire operation in jeopardy.
6. Handle devices carefully. During the “data collection” stage you might have come across various SD cards (from digital cameras), hard drives, and other devices. All of these devices are not suitable for long-term storage because they’re inherently fragile. SD cards can be ruined by liquids, dirt, and can even be corrupted if you swap them out between more than one device. Hard drives are prone to failure and breakage if they are dropped or exposed to humidity changes or excessive heat. If you have employees, then simply talk to them about handling devices, especially the need to move images/files and other content off the devices as soon as possible.
Small business managers and owners should treat data as a valuable monetary asset that deserves protection and proper management. Firms that follow best practices for data security will benefit from improved analytics opportunities and can greatly lower the risk of brand-killing data breaches.
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