Your business runs on data, and this is more than just a catchphrase. Whether it’s sales reports, logistics, or customer email lists, your business’s data plays a crucial role in business operations. From ordering products to connecting with consumers, keeping your data safe from breaches should always be a priority.
The strategic advantages of migrating your data center can’t be overstated. Mitigating risks helps ensure your data is safe from hackers and remains uncompromised. However, it’s difficult to create an effective mitigation strategy if you’re not sure why your data center is crucial for your business’s success.
Why Your Data Center Is a Critical Part of Your Business
Yes, your data center holds all or most of your business information. Want to compare the previous year’s sales with the current quarter, the information is probably stored in your data center. Are you getting ready to launch an email campaign?
Guess where your customers’ information is stored. If you said the data center, you’re correct. Here’s a look at some of the reasons your data center is a key part of your business.
Scalability
ScalabilityData centers aren’t designed as a one-size-fits-all type of solution. This applies regardless of the type of data center. You can scale an on-premise or a cloud-based data center based on your current needs. This means you can add infrastructure like servers as needed and remove components when demand dies down.
Scalability is easier in cloud-based data centers. This is something to consider if your business goes through seasons of rapid growth combined with slower purchasing times. However, this also means adopting a mitigation strategy that addresses cloud-related vulnerabilities. Your mitigation strategy should match your type of data center.
Simplify Data Management
Can you imagine trying to organize and analyze all of your business’s data from spreadsheets or worse handwritten notes? By the time you finish with the data, you’ve missed an opportunity to boost sales and connect with customers.
Your business’s data center serves a vital purpose. It not only stores your data but also makes sense of the information. Do you need to know how many pairs of tennis shoes you sold last spring? A quick prompt from your laptop or handheld device and you know precisely what you sold and when. Now you have a better idea of what you need to have in stock for this season.
Enhanced Security
Regardless of your industry, if you’re storing and using data you probably have industry compliance regulations. These regulations work to protect data from hackers and other types of security breaches.
A security breach typically means unauthorized personnel have accessed the data and this violates compliance standards. Your data center, whether it’s on-premise or in the cloud, has strict security controls that work to prevent breaches. Yes, your laptop may be password-protected. You may have gone so far as to install a two-step authentication process. Even Google’s 2-step verification process isn’t enough to prevent most security breaches.
From firewalls and encryption to surveillance cameras and biometric authentication, a data center offers the security you need to stay compliant with industry regulations. This way you can avoid potentially hefty fines and other penalties that can negatively impact your business for years.
Cost-Effective
We touched briefly on how a data center’s enhanced security can help your business avoid expensive regulatory fines. However, this isn’t the only way a data center helps save your business money.
While the initial setup costs for an in-house data center are high, the infrastructure isn’t exactly cheap, you will save an eventual return on your investment. A data center can help your business run more efficiently, and this always reduces operating costs.
If you want your data center to be as cost-effective as possible, you may want to look at a cloud service provider. You’re only paying for the service and not infrastructure purchasing costs. The service provider handles all of these expenses, along with maintaining the data center.
Improve Your Disaster Recovery Process
Your business should have a disaster recovery plan, which are the protocols your staff follows if a disaster either natural or manmade occurs. The data center automatically backs up your information and keeps it separate from the other connected systems. This is especially true if you’re using a cloud-based data center.
You can quickly recover your data after a disaster and get back to business as normal. Now that you have a better understanding of the importance of your data center, it should be easier to know why an effective mitigation strategy can be crucial.
