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Why Equipment Rental Businesses Need to Back Up Their Data

InTempo Software InTempo Software

Imagine this: You’ve spent years, possibly decades, building your rental business. You’ve worked hard, day in and day out, to create a solid customer base.  Thanks to your rental software, you know exactly where your inventory is, which invoices are paid or awaiting payment, and who not to rent to. Everything is moving along smoothly!

Now, imagine if that carpet was pulled out from under you. Think about how you would feel if you came to the store and didn’t have any of your records from the past ten-plus years. What would you do if you didn’t know how much your customers owed you or where your equipment is? 

For many rental company owners, this could literally mean the end of their business. Sadly, there are countless scenarios that could cause this nightmare to become reality — a flood, fire, theft, or a hard drive crash, to name just a few. 

Backups to the Rescue

The good news is that there is a way to avoid putting yourself and your business in these very situations. And while the solution involves some effort on your part, it is neither time-consuming nor expensive. If you use a rental ERP, backing up your data every day helps you protect the livelihood of your business and your life’s work.

Here's what Patrick Pittman, a Customer Care Analyst at InTempo, tells customers about data backups: 

"There are three simple rules: Rule One is back up your data. Rule Two is back up your data. Rule Three is see Rule One and Rule Two."

Think about data backups like an insurance policy: you never need it until it’s too late. Take the case of one California-based InTempo customer who came into his office one day and his computer wouldn’t start. He bought a new hard drive and because he did backups religiously, our customer support team was able to help him get his data back up in 25 minutes. This is one of the "best case" scenarios; Patrick has seen other customers who did not back up their data experience catastrophic failures as a result.

How Often Should You Back Up Your Rental Software?

If you're hosting your own rental software, the safest route is to back up your rental software every day. You can do this locally on a disk or tape and use an online service that runs automatically.

Local backups are important, but off-site backups can be even more critical. If you're relying only on local backups, and say, your building burns down or your neighborhood is flooded, you won’t be left empty-handed. (To that end, it can be helpful to choose an off-site provider that's in a different geographical region, just for even more peace of mind.)

At InTempo, we offer Venyu, an online backup system that costs less than a dollar a day — likely a fraction of what you paid for your cup of coffee this morning. DVD discs or tapes are similarly of negligible cost when compared to the price of losing all your data.

If you’re using a SaaS-based rental solution, your provider likely backs up your data automatically. (This is one of the key things we do at InTempo to keep your rental data safe.)

The moral of the story? Don’t risk wiping out years of hard work that you've put into building your equipment rental business. You insure your home, car, and maybe even smaller items like a wedding ring. Getting “insurance” on your rental business in the form of data backups is no less vital.  This way, if a disaster does occur and you lose all your data, your recovery story can be something you’re proud of.

If you'd like to make sure you're following the best practices for backing up your rental data, we're here to help. Contact us today to learn more.

Rental Software Data Backup
Infographic source: SingleHop



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