Inside Nspire - Our Thoughts about Nspire, Church Management Software & Ministry

I am amazed at how many churches I come in contact with that do not have a backup plan for their database’s and other critical computer information. We had a tech support call a while back where a church had completely corrupted their data file for their member information. Whether by virus or not, the fact was the file was gone and there wasn’t anything that could be done about it. The unfortunate thing was the church had not backed up any of their database information… ever. It is usually at this point that our tech support representatives switch over to counselor mode.

So how do you avoid such a catastrophe? Backup. When I was traveling the U.S. holding training seminars, I usually spent a significant portion of the time teaching church workers and ministers the importance of backing up your data and simple solutions to avoid the "backup blues", and that’s what I want to begin to give you today. Check back in tomorrow for Part 2.

Unless your church already has a backup procedure in place (that is being performed regularly) or you are using a 3rd party service to backup your server to a FTP site, the following list should get you started in securing your data and avoiding the backup blues.

Step 1: Have a Backup Plan

This sounds simple and insignificant, but most churches miss having a successful backup plan because they never organized a written backup plan. Most churches I see that say they have a backup plan either 1. do have one and everyone knows about it, i.e. written, or FTP service or 2. have a backup plan in their head that they think everyone knows, but is rarely accomplished. So here’s the scoop, organize a backup plan by delegating a person to be the administrator of backups. Write down the procedure, add it to your employee manual, or create an employee manual… and then add it to it. Most important, be clear on who, when, where, and what is being backed up. Don’t leave this as a unclear decision, you could regret it later.

Step 2: Backup as Often as You are Willing to Lose the Data

This one speaks for itself, if you enter 1 or 1,000 people you can never backup too often.

Step 3: Do Not Backup Just to Your Computers Hard Drive

Be sure that when you are backing up your important information you are using some external media like a CD-R, DVD-R, Flash USB Drive, External Hard Drive, or a Remote Backup Service. Backing up only to your computer’s hard drive leaves you vulnerable if your computer catches a virus or crashes. In a situation like this, the backup made to your computers hard drive could be rendered useless. Doesn’t make for a happy day.

… Check back tomorrow for Part 2 of Remember to Backup.

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