Most people have been told that it’s important to back up important data or risk losing it when there is an unplanned issue. But, how many people actually follow this advice? With multiple convenient options for backup available, there’s no reason to engage in risky data behavior. However, whether they are willing to admit it or not, some people still don’t back up and risk losing their files to viruses, malware, system failure, or unfortunate human error.

Here are a few backup horror stories that will convince even the most irresponsible person to consider data backup options:

…and she’s angry. Why is that? This bride spent more than a year planning her perfect wedding day in a beautiful location. Her intense planning included hiring a professional photographer for a couple of thousand dollars to capture the day in its entirety. Except for a few expected issues, the big day went off without hitch and was indeed the most memorable event of the newlyweds’ life. Anxiously, they awaited the portfolio of photos that would stay with them for the rest of their lives, and hopefully for generations to come, as a reminder of one of the most monumental moments in their life together.

However, this “professional” photographer downloaded the photos to her own computer for processing and erased the memory cards so that they could be used again the following weekend. She didn’t back up her personal files. When her laptop failed, the couple’s photos were lost, along with many other photoshoots. She lost thousands of dollars and her reputation and the couple lost their cherished wedding photos.

It can take years of work and conscious networking to build the log of contacts that an organization, business person, or entrepreneur uses to run their business. The days of the Rolodex are gone and most contacts are stored digitally. But are they backed up?

We generally think of Google as a safe place to store our information. However, because of technical issues at Google, users’ data has been erased before and it could happen again. Due to an update error, a successful businessman (along with a few thousand other users) lost all of his Gmail contacts, his primary method of communication for his business. Imagine answering important business correspondence with, “New phone, who’s this?”

Pixar is known for its amazing and incredibly popular CGI films like Cars, Finding Dory, The Incredibles, Toy Story, and Toy Story 2. But, even if you know their movies you may not know that Toy Story 2 nearly succumbed to data loss.

During production, one of the employees working on the film accidentally used a “remove all” command. Pixar did have a BDR backup system in place, of course. But, when they attempted to recover the lost data they realized that the system in place hadn’t worked in several months. The only thing that saved the day — the technical director just happened to have made personal backups that saved millions of dollars worth of work and an iconic children’s movie.

These stories of data loss are nothing short of terrifying, but each one could have been avoided with a reliable backup system. SingularisIT offers Backup as a Service (BaaS) with safe and secure backup options customized for your organization’s needs.