Tag Archives: Enterprise Business Continuity

Non-Compliance is Very Expensive

For enterprises and businesses, compliance is a term that shows the company is following laws and regulations concerning business, personnel and clients. For businesses, compliance is not optional. In fact, it is obligatory for organizations and divergence to this act results in form of penalties.

 

Accounting scandals of a number of corporations made it necessary to establish an act therefore the Act Sarbanes Oxley was passed against such companies. As a result, non compliant enterprises have to face penalties such as loss of D & O insurance, imprisonment, heavy fines and lose exchange listing. It is given that investors do not have an interest to invest in non-compliant organizations. In case, CFOs or CEOs give fake certifications, they will face charges of one million dollars fine for their un-willful wrong doing. On the other hand, charges for willful doings are up to five million dollars. In addition to penalties, CEOs and CFOs can be imprisoned for up to ten to twenty years based on the evidence presented.

 

HIPAA is an act concerning health insurance portability & accountability. HIPAA is applied to service providers dealing with health care departments. The act also equally applies to health care associates. If service providers are unable to meet the demands of HIPAA Act, they will be fined severe penalties. Health care providers are castigated when they ignore standard of HIPAA. In such cases, the Secretary has the right to charge $100-$50,000 for each violation, up to a maximum of $1.5 million for identical provisions during a calendar year.

 

Another important part of HIPAA is its relation to personal health information (PHI). When sensitive information such as PHI of patients is disclosed, health care providers are penalized for their carelessness. In case this infringement is willful, up to $50,000 penalty, with a year imprisonment or both is imposed on the wrong doer. Conversely, if the violation is done with false pretences, an amount of $100,000 is imposed, with five years imprisonment or both. However, if such violation is for to get commercial benefits, a fine up to $250,000, with 10 years of imprisonment or both is imposed.

 

Punishments related to PCI-DSS and data protection act impose charges of up to $500,000 for data breaches. Non-compliant companies not only get charged fines, but also have to face long lasting penalties, such as credit card activity shut down, loss of business, staff cost during recovery process, detailed and increased audit requirements, charges of printing clients’ notification, printing costs, emailing costs, as well as loss of clients’ trust.

 

Controllers of non-compliant data are also punished by Data Protection Act. They are required to get registration and follow data protection act to become qualified for processing sensitive information of customers. If data controllers do not get registration, they can face litigation and penalties. On the other hand, data controllers and agents who misuse personal client information in other ways that are not mentioned in the act, they could be charged under the civil or criminal act sanctions.

 

In short, non compliance can be terrible and costly for companies.

Technical Support Levels for Small, Medium, and Enterprise Businesses

Companies signing up for cloud backup and data storage services are not just looking for backup solutions. They want more than that; they want a partner that can give them support at all times. Companies anticipate to get support from the subject experts to keep their valuable information safe. They expect the experts to know how to backup data, what is important for their company, where to keep the data, and when to make backups. These companies prefer to reduce the number of technical workers in their offices, and instead rely on the technical skills of the service providers to solve any software issues and backup problems. Problems can occur at any time, therefore, such enterprises need round the clock support. Technical 24 x 7 support is what they expect from service providers.

Then, the question arises whether cloud backup firms can provide 24 x 7 technical support or not? Understandably, service providers cannot give Yes or No answer to this question. However, they have various types of services, including: Web-based Support, which is given by all service providers. This service includes FAQs or Frequently Asked Questions and their relevant answers. In addition, all service providers offer Contact Form to write your queries and get answers from the support team within a day or two. Forms are delivered to a given email address of technical staff and customers need to wait for their turn to receive answers.

A small number of service providers have established their Discussion Forum for clients. Common issues are discussed here by users and support team takes relevant actions to solve their issues. Though such forums can be used any time, users cannot expect to get an immediate response from staff.

Many online backup service providers use software to send Alerts when recovery or backup process stops working. In case of data breaches or access of Unauthorised User to get sensitive information, automated alerts are generated to inform the service provider or the administrator or both. Software is programmed to give response whenever there is a threat to customer information. Such type of software informs service providers when clients cannot solve out issues or unable to show reaction against security alert. To overcome such situations, service providers generate periodic alerts or call the client directly with a request to solve the issue and provide proper guidance.

There are some sophisticated backup services that provide additional support services at a reasonable rate. Clients are given favour to keep in touch with technical staff through phone calls to get solution of hardware or software issues 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. On the other hand, onsite assistance is given at premium basis, where by a technical support staff may be stationed at the clients’ location all day through out the term of the contract to solve out issues as they arise.

Customers need to decide what kind of technical support level they need to sign up for while they are evaluating a potential solution. Before signing up with an online backup and recovery service, companies should check the nature of the services offered and their own requirements. It is required to go through Service Level Agreements (SLAs) in detail.

When customers have understood the different service levels available, they can select the right service provider. Backup Technology provides 24 x 7 technical support and built-in automated alert system, which notifies concerned parties in case of failed backups or recoveries.

Our Customers

  • ATOS
  • Age UK
  • Alliance Pharma
  • Liverpool Football Club
  • CSC
  • Centrica
  • Citizens Advice
  • City of London
  • Fujitsu
  • Government Offices
  • HCL
  • LK Bennett
  • Lambretta Clothing
  • Leicester City
  • Lloyds Register
  • Logica
  • Meadowvale
  • National Farmers Union
  • Network Rail
  • PKR

Sales question? Need support? Start a chat session with one of our experts!

For support, call the 24-hour hotline:

UK: 0800 999 3600
US: 800-220-7013

Or, if you've been given a screen sharing code:

Existing customer?

Click below to login to our secure enterprise Portal and view the real-time status of your data protection.

Login to Portal