The importance of backing up your data has never been better exemplified than in the repercussions faced by many victims of this year's earthquake in Christchurch. Some of these victims had not backed up their systems at all, which meant colossal losses (whether personal or business related) in the disaster.

Even those who had backed up onto external hard drives or tapes have run into problems if those backups were kept on site, since many people in the CBD were prevented from re-entering stickered homes and buildings to rescue valuables.

Geeks on Wheels chief executive, Matthew Carr-Gomm, is recommending his clients subscribe to a new online, offsite, automated data backup service called ‘Back IT Up Mate' to protect against instances like these.  The access-from-anywhere feature of this new service allows users to dial in using a secure encryption key in case of disaster scenarios such as fires, floods, earthquakes, computer meltdowns or burglary.

Costing just $9 a month, this service could have reduced Christchurch claims for business continuance insurance by millions of dollars, and is definitely well worth considering!