As a small business, you are not likely a target for hackers and data thieves, but it’s still possible for important data you have to be damaged or lost, if it is not adequately protected, that is. Inventory data, together with financial accounts and employee records, is the most important data a small business has. Unfortunately, it is also the one most susceptible to loss or damage.
The Dangers of Excel Spreadsheets
Many small businesses store their inventory data in Excel spreadsheets, which in turn are stored on one or more computers. Useful and easy to use as they are, spreadsheets can be deleted by accident or become corrupted due to hardware failure. In the worst-case scenario, all inventory-related data is stored on a single computer, usually the owner’s or manager’s, and the hard-disk fails and the data cannot be recovered unless a physical or online backup exists. Similarly, printed inventory records can be easily misplaced or mixed with less important papers and thrashed or discarded.
While the loss of inventory data won’t put an end to a small business, it can be a major blunder hours of work, plenty of calls, and a lot of stress will then be necessary for the records to be recreated, and business performance metrics may be lost for ever. Even worse, fingers will be pointed, leading to disgruntled employees, reduced performance, and even dissensions in the workplace.
Storing Data in the Cloud
Fortunately, there are ways to keep your business’s inventory data safe with minimal effort. One way to do this is to perform regular backups, both digitally and physically, by printing records or storing them on flash drives or CDs. An even more effective way to protect inventory data, as well as to keep it unified and organized, is to use an online inventory management or cloud inventory application. Such an application is the inventory management equivalent of the QuickBooks accounting app.
With an online inventory management system such as DataQlick in place, your small business inventory data is hosted on an encrypted server. This server is located in a special data storage center, where it is protected from digital and physical threats by carefully enforced security protocols. Existing data from QuickBooks and other sources can be directly imported into the app, which automatically backs it up online. The data stored online in the cloud is updated in real time, so that it always reflects the latest developments in stock control.
In the end, by using a web-based cloud inventory app like DataQlick, you can protect your inventory data in a simple and cost-effective way, without having to worry about manually backing it up. Furthermore, you can control who accesses it to reduce the risk of data theft, as well.