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Storage Networking World - Question: How do you ensure that several thousand end users regularly back up critical data on their laptops while they're on the road?
Answer: You make it as easy as possible.
Five years ago, AXA Financial started looking for a reliable way to ensure data continuance for some 7,000 financial advisers and sales reps, whether they were working in their offices, their homes or on the road. About 60% of these employees currently use laptops, with the number expected to soon reach 80%, according to Tom Pfeiffer, a technical consultant at the New York-based financial services firm. The IT group decided that users need to back up key files and directories at least once a week.
A mobile backup system from Novastor, called NovaDISK, addresses the company's needs on several fronts, Pfeiffer says. First, it streamlines the backup process for end users, many of whom had limited computer knowledge. IT was able to set things up so that users only needed to attach the storage device and click on an icon. Secondly, it allows users to choose between a wide range of backup media. Third, users or IT administrators can easily add files and directories to the backup list, without overwriting each other's changes.
AXA is in good company. A significant portion of corporate IT departments have gotten management approval for implementing an enterprise mobile device backup strategy, although funding may still be pending, according to Fred Broussard, an analyst at IDC.
"Companies are realizing that key data assets are residing outside the company on laptops and that employees without a lot of technical competence are responsible for safeguarding them," adds Ken Dulaney, vice president of Gartner Group's mobile computing group.

Which backup solution is right?
The type of mobile backup solution that works for any company depends on a variety of factors, including:

• The type of applications and end users that the mobile devices support.
  
• How often data needs to be backed up.
  
• IT budget and personnel constraints.
  
• How often users return to home base.
  
• The speed and cost of the connections users typically use for remote log-ins.
  
• The number of mobile devices that need to be backed up.

The most popular mobile backup strategy is the one that AXA implemented: user-initiated backup on a portable, detachable storage device. It is far from the only choice, however, as vendors have been flooding the market with inexpensive, high-capacity, portable storage products. The recently introduced USB 2.0 specification supports system-to-disk transfer rates of up to 240MB per minute.
"You can back up a laptop's documents, or system