Thursday, 18 August 2005

Tech

Managing expectations

"The company that provide our website caught a virus that infected every single one of the sites they run. They've lost everything."

The strangest thing about this statement was the face that delivered it. I'd asked what had happened to a local company's web presence and was provided this explanation with a shrug and a smile that said, "life's like that".

It wasn't the smug smirk of a technophobe. (Though the following comment drew attention to their entirely mechanical ticket machine.) Computer viruses now seem to be so commonplace that people expect to be infected at some point.

The amazing trick is that the web hosting company seems to have persuaded their client that websites are similarly vulnerable, that backups are an optional luxury, that - hey - bad things happen.

If you're paying for a web presence, there's absolutely no reason to accept this. At a push I'll allow for a site falling over under attack, but I would be disappointed if it wasn't back up within twenty-four hours.

Don't let geeks manage your expectations down. If the web is a vital communications channel for you, there's no excuse for amateur service. And get this: you don't have to pay much to get it.

Ask your hosting company about their backup and recovery processes. If they look blankly, run away.

Posted by pab at 23:16 | Comments will be back later in the year. Please email me instead!