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

So you  have made it this far. Good Job! Now let’s pick up where we left off.

Step 4: Do Not Use Questionable Media

Ok, if you have been using that CD-ROM as a Frisbee or it has just been conveniently following you around in your backpack unprotected, you might want to reconsider using that CD as the source for your backup. This sounds silly, but it happens… so you have been warned.

Step 5: Keep a Backup Offsite

So you have a backup plan, are using it and everything is going well, but where do you keep those backups? If you are keeping them at the church in the old CD Rolodex thing every church has you are running the risk of losing the information. Unfortunately, church buildings are, for the most part, not fireproof. If something like this was to happen your information would, of course, be gone as well. Even if the CD was in a fireproof safe, the heat could render the CD useless. In order to have a accurate backup plan, use a offsite location to store the backups like a bank or consider a remote backup option, like FTP.

Step 6: Stay Organized

This one is important. For your backup plan to be successful it needs to be organized. Make sure it is written down, noting what individuals perform what tasks in the backup procedure. A few helpful tips would be to use Outlook or any other calendar program to remind you of weekly backups. Have a simple process that informs staff what to do with the backups after they are made and be sure to keep a record of when backups were made and what was contained in the backups. A very simple way of doing this would be to use a word processor to make a small book of backups. Another solution would be to go to your local office supply store and pickup a pre-made task or organization book that is full of blank pages. You can then label the backups made in this book. Be sure to label the CD or other media so you can refer to it in the Backup Book. Doing this proves to be useful when you need to refer to a past backup.

I’m sure there is a lot more we could get into with backups and plans, but this should be enough to get you started. The most important thing is to remain consistent with it, and if you should have a rainy database day in the future, you will be prepared.

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