Note: I am sending this out to all of our email contacts for CPS customers, not just our newsletter subscribers, due to the importance of the topic. If you would like to subscribe to this newsletter please click this link to sign up.

        One of my standard stump speeches is that no matter what you paid for your hardware and software, the real value lies in the data that you collect. An interesting analysis by my friends at Pellucid of a recent purchase of an online tee time company valued the data at $26.67 per valid email address. Total purchase price was in excess of $40 MILLION.

        Computers can be replaced and software can be reloaded, but if you lose your data and don't have a good backup - the game is over and you are starting from scratch. (We have a solution for you, so if you want to skip my babbling, scroll down.)

        It happens to one of our customers (now in excess of 1,000) about once every 3 months. For you lottery players, that's 1 in 1,000 over the next 3 months (odds of winning the California Super Lotto are 1 in 18,000,000). While I don't keep stats, lightning strikes, hard drive failures, and user errors tend to be the leading causes. We have had at least 2 clubs where the clubhouse burned to the ground (computers included). The most recent occurrence of one was about 3 weeks ago. This was a multi-site (3 course) facility that had a power surge during a storm. When the power came back on, the hard drive was damaged. When we went to the backup, we found the most recent backup available was more than 6 months old. Imagine losing your entire sales, inventory, and billing data for the whole summer season.

        Fortunately (or not depending on how you look at it), I have become quite skilled at recovering corrupt databases. It takes a lot of patience and knowledge to pull it off. The first time I did this was on the phone with Microsoft as I had to enlist their help. I was on that call for over 7 hours with at least 5 different engineers well into the wee hours of the morning - HATED IT! Anyhow, the multi-site client was another very lucky customer as I was able to recover most (not all) of their data in the time they procured and installed a new hard drive, and we got them back in business. Eventually, our string of luck is going to run out and I am going to get a database that simply cannot be recovered.

        Of course, there is a simple way to manage this risk. Backup your data OFF-SITE daily. Hardly anyone does this though - it is time consuming, annoying and until you need it, not a high priority.

        Well, we found a solution that eliminates the excuses. We have teamed up with a local Pittsburgh company, PM-Computing, to provide off-site backup of your SQL database that is completely automated, monitored and secure. The backups run "silently" when the computer is idle. If a backup is not run for 3 consecutive days, you will get a phone call and a tech to troubleshoot if necessary. No more finding out 6 months down the road that your backups were not running! Even the initial setup is done for you, so procrastination is not a valid excuse here; and if and when you need the backup, it is an easy secure download over the Internet.

        We have worked directly with PM-Computing to set up and test this backup specifically for the PSK Database. We have negotiated a cost for our customers of $35 per month. For you lottery players, that's probably less than you spend on those lotto tickets and you get way better odds. You will spend about one dollar a day to insure an irreplaceable asset - your data. Larger data centers (beyond the PSK data) can be accommodated as well. Look at it another way, run your Inventory On-Hand report. If your shop burned to the ground last night and you lost everything, what do you have to show the insurance adjusters? If you are doing customer billing, how would you recover your accounts receivable when you have no way to reproduce statements or invoices? Do you have a Disaster Recovery plan?

        Interested? (You should be -- your job or living may count on it someday). Just reply to this email or give us a call 800-793-1872 and I will have PM-Computing call you and explain the program. It will only take a few minutes of your time. If you decide to proceed, PM-Computing will do all of the work for you.

Here are a few highlights and features of the system:

• Backup scheduler and reminder
• Customized to back up at a specific time or at multiple times per day. If your system does not complete an automatic backup for 3 consecutive days, we will call you and help get your system back on track.

• Open file backup
• Backs up the system even as you are working on it, no need to close down any applications or windows!

• Encryption and compression
• 128 bit TwoFish / Trible DES / AES encryption
• Upload backup data through SSL channel
• Up to 80 % compression

• Customizable retention policy
• Keep deleted backups to prevent human error deletion

• Optional web access
• Makes the backup account act like an online briefcase
• Download backups simply and securely using the web

• Optional local and network backup
• Backup additional copies to local or external hard drives

• Optional backup report
• Easy monitoring with extensive backup status reports

• Conventional methods (e.g., tape) are not good enough
• High failure rates during restoration
• Critical backup failures will not be detected until at the time of restoration
• Slow read / write speed
• High cost of maintenance and licensing is prohibitive
• Data is not encrypted
• Fixed capacity per unit makes backup job less flexible
• Prone to damages, being stolen or misplaced

• Much safer than the old ways
• Your critical data is encrypted (128-bit!), compressed and then uploaded to our REMOTE servers via SSL, guaranteeing security.
• It requires no hands-on intervention, thus eliminating human error.
• The robust design guarantees an extremely high rate of successful restoration.

• Do more while spending less
• No more tapes, tape drives, head cleaners or licensing to finance.
• Your data is protected from fire, vandalism, terrorist attacks, war, natural disasters, etc.
• Recovering lost data is easier, more reliable and less expensive as well.

• Easy to manage
• No technical knowledge or training is required.
• Our team of highly trained technicians will offer any assistance required for your system backup or restoration.

Until Next time,

Enjoy!