MLSBackup.net: New emergency MLS system for brokerages and boards
Thank you to Real Estate Webmasters for sponsoring this article on RE Technology:
What Is MLS Backup?
MLS Backup is a product tailored to offer a safety net for MLSs (multiple listing services) and brokerages in the event of significant hardware malfunctions or ransomware attacks. Its primary purpose is to ensure that Realtors® can continue their business operations even if their main MLS system encounters disruptions This backup system is designed to be activated immediately, ensuring minimal downtime.
This blog is a summary of the original found on Real Estate Webmasters' website.
What Are the Benefits of MLS Backup?
MLS Backup offers three primary advantages:
Redundant Backups of All of Your Listings
The core of MLS Backup's redundant backup feature is to provide third-party backup of listings. While many MLS systems and brokerages already back up their listings, these backups might not be immediately accessible during emergencies. MLS Backup guarantees the availability of a redundant backup, which is both a prudent and cost-effective measure.
An MLS System for Critical Functions
MLS Backup doesn't aim to replace existing comprehensive MLS systems. Instead, it offers Realtors® the essential features they require to manage their listings and sustain their business operations. This includes the ability to add, edit, delete, and syndicate listings. The platform ensures that Realtors® can maintain their operations seamlessly, even during an MLS outage.
Disaster Recovery and Repopulation
In the aftermath of an outage, reintroducing the primary MLS with the latest listings can be a cumbersome task. MLS Backup aids in this recovery process by providing a feed of the most recent listings, inclusive of new listings and all the edits made during the downtime. This ensures a faster and more streamlined recovery process.
A Cost-Effective Backup Solution
For MLS Backup to be widely adopted, it needs to be economically viable. The platform is designed to be cost-effective, especially when it's serving as a passive backup. When in active use, the pricing is considerably less than the cost of the malfunctioning MLS, making it an affordable and practical backup solution.
Final Thoughts
Put simply, the real estate industry cannot afford to be left in the dark due to unforeseen system failures. MLS Backup emerges as a safety net, ensuring that Realtors® and brokerages can continue their operations seamlessly, even in the face of adversity. By investing in such a robust backup system, real estate professionals not only safeguard their listings but also fortify the trust of their clients. As the industry involves, tools like MLS Backup will be indispensable in shaping a future where business continuity is guaranteed.
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Why Would I Want to Host My Brokerage's Data?
Once you know what hosting is, how it works, and whether it's secure (more on that here), you might be wondering why it's worth looking into.
So why would you want to host your brokerage's data? There are all kinds of reasons, but here are the big three.
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Implement Cloud Storage to Safeguard and Streamline Your Real Estate Brokerage
At the peak of the information age, we find ourselves faced with a paradox of convenience and security. On one hand, we are producing, transmitting and storing a historically unprecedented amount of information. On the other, much of this information is never physically archived. Security breaches, disorganization, system crashes – many factors put us at risk of losing our data.
For organizations that deal with the transfer and storage of large volumes of data, the security and organization of this data are paramount. Real estate brokerages are held accountable to several parties for the secure management of sensitive information involved in the real estate transaction. Losing or mishandling this data is not an option.
Purchasing a server for your brokerage is rarely a feasible option. Buying, housing and maintaining an office network represents a large financial commitment, and often involves a number of unexpected and recurring expenses. Outsourcing your hosting to a trusted supplier will save you space, time and money.
This is why cloud storage/hosting has become an attractive solution for the modern brokerage. A strong hosting infrastructure offers the convenience of accessing your information anywhere as well as the security of having this information backed up outside of local devices. Cloud storage keeps information up to date and helps to eliminate redundancies and discrepancies.
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Data Backup Options
So, you've probably got all your files – documents, music, videos, photos, EVERYTHING – on your computer. It's probably all nice, neat, and organized just how you like it. And you probably have it all backed up on an external hard drive or cloud storage, right? Right?? If the answer is "yes," you can stop reading this now. If you're one of the majority of people who would answer "no," this is the article for you.
Although we've written about the importance of data backup a few times in the past, the occasional refresher can save at least a few new people from hard drive disaster.
Problem: You have a LOT of important (and probably irreplaceable) files in ONE place – your computer.
Solutions:
Hard Drive Backup – This involves purchasing an external hard drive and running backup software. The cost? About $100. We recommend Seagate and Western Digital drives, preferably with a capacity of 1TB (one terabyte) or larger.
Cloud Storage Backup – This involves signing up for a free or paid online storage plan. Free plans usually don't include much storage, but paid plans can be very cost effective (and ABSOLUTELY worth it to keep your data safe from disaster). We recommend MCW Backup (of course) or a similar service such as CrashPlan. Features will vary from service to service, but the important thing is to get your data backed up!
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Cloud Storage and Sharing Work in the Digital Age
In today's digital age, business cannot afford to be down for longer than mere seconds. What happens when not everyone works out of the same office but the flow of work still needs to continue?
From stage right enters Cloud Storage, with the ability to upload data to a web based server and access that data from virtually any computer, smartphone or tablet. There are an increasing number of services starting up for cloud based storage and, at times, it can be difficult to tell which is better. Explaining the differences and similarities is what we at My Computer Works are prepared to do for you. Here's a quick break down and a chart comparing three services.
Dropbox - As one of the simplest and longest running tools, Dropbox is a great for those looking for direct file access across multiple computers. With the added Facebook access, Dropbox is a great addition for those looking to share content on a social media outlet.
Google Drive - Unique file format support, like Autocad and Adobe, drives a different experience. It's difficult for Google Drive to not be a viable option for anyone, from saving presentations and important documents to small business use.
Microsoft Skydrive - Still in its early stages, Skydrive is expected to be an improved service over Google Drive. With Microsoft Web apps, similar sharing settings, simultaneous editing and a starting storage size of 7 GB, Skydrive is an excellent choice for small business owners, as well as the average user looking to maintain individual or group projects.
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Do You Back Up Your Computer?
If you have not backed up your computer and your phone – do it now before reading this article – Murphy's Law.
Last week, I was on a call with a business owner and a client doing a screen share when he reported that his computer just crashed. He was on a PC – so I was not very alarmed – seemed par for the course. He had his machine backed up, but still lost a few things because he had not backed up in the past week. He was devastated, but could recover. "I have a 5 year old MacBook Pro – it never crashes," I bragged.
Echo, Echo, Echo – It never crashes, It never crashes.....you know whats coming, right?
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