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Modern businesses rely on computers and data to operate efficiently, so it is unfortunate that some companies don’t put data backups first.

That was the case in this story when one guy was talking to his friends about how they backed up their company information.

They shocked him when they didn’t even know what that was or how much money it might cost. He tried to explain it to them, but it isn’t clear that he ever got through.

Read through the full story below and see what you think of their situation.

It costs me money?

I was chatting tonight with friends who run their own, very small, 9 employee construction business, about their data backup plans. They have two laptops and a mac.

For ease. me=narrator, them=builder

Let’s see how this conversation goes.

Me: So what backup plan do you guys have?

Them: Oh, we use a mac.

Me: So, when orders come in they are processed…?

They don’t understand at all.

Them: Yes, they are processed.

Me:….yes, and what happens if someone breaks in and walk away with your mac?

Them: Oh, they wouldn’t do that.

How naive can they be?

Me: ….Wut?

Them: We have three laptops, I doubt they would take that one.

Me: But, for arguments sake, lets say they did. (hoping for a rational conversation)

They can at least think about it.

Them: It’s fairly unlikely. Like one-third unlikely.

Me: massaging brain

Ok, assuming someone really nasty did turn up and steal your precious laptop, what would you do?”

This would be a huge amount of work.

Them: ….probably just copy manually back from files.

Me: You mean copy back each and every file?

Them: Oh yes, there is no other way. *doe eyed look*

It is shocking how ignorant some people can be.

Me: …what if I told you there was another way that didn’t require you to input all the files?

Then: Well I just don’t know about that.

Cue many hours of explaining how backups work and how they can be configured

People like this will often complain the loudest when a backup is needed, but they don’t have it. Hopefully these people will actually listen to his recommendations, but I doubt it.

Let’s see what the people in the comments have to say about it.

Backups could be loaded onto the replacement laptops.

Of course the Macs would be stolen.

There is no talking to some people.

If you enjoyed this story, check out this post about an employee who was denied a raise for “not being dedicated enough,” but then went on to discover what was really going on behind the scenes.

This person experienced something similar.

Why wouldn’t a thief take every one of the laptops?

How can anyone be so oblivious to the world as to think that they don’t need data backup? Even if their laptops never get stolen, they can break or have other issues.

At this point, he has explained the risks. It is on them if they don’t want to invest in a backup system.