I’ve had the pleasure of reviewing a lot of great backup software. The kind of software that is reliable, is expertly tested and supported, and is easy to use.
Unfortunately, I’ve reviewed a lot of crap too.
This is a list of the top 5 failures in modern-day backup software. And whether you’re a home user backing up your family photos, or if you develop this garbage, you need to read this.
It’s Too Complicated
The reason cloud backup is killing traditional backup software is because it’s easier. Users don’t have to think about what to backup. They don’t have to go through long, complex menus or worry about incremental vs. differential backups.
It should be simple. Creating a backup job shouldn’t be harder than a calculus test. It should auto-select the best options. Auto-select possible backup locations. Auto-select everything. There shouldn’t be lots of buttons with small text. The buttons should be BIG and easy to understand.
It’s Too Expensive
Why would anyone pay $79.99 for some hunk of crap software when they can get the same features from the built-in Windows backup utility?
Even worse, some backup companies charge upwards of $100 extra for tech support.
It should be cheap. Not only does it need to be simple, but it needs to be damn powerful. It should offer more than free backup software, or else it’s crap!
It’s Ugly
You know the type. The small, outdated fonts. The ugly graphics. The theme that looks like it’s better suited for Windows 95. How can anyone take their backups seriously if the software looks like it hasn’t been updated in 10 years?
It should be modern. It should be beautiful. It should be not ugly!
The System Restore Sucks
If creating a recovery disk takes more than 2 clicks, you lose. Do not pass Go, do not collect $200. It sucks!
No, I will not download a WinPE bootable disk. No, I will not manually burn an ISO to a DVD. No, thank you. I will instead just use better backup software – something that doesn’t require me to do so much work.
Also, if your software doesn’t support bootable USB drives, it’s already outdated. The top backup software can create recovery media from anything, even the hard drive the backups are stored on. How cool is that?
It Doesn’t Work
This is the worst offense.
At the end of the day, I need to know my data is protected. If I can’t backup and restore my files due to failures that aren’t my fault – maybe my PC hardware is incompatible, or there’s a bug in the software – then the software sucks.
It should work. Scheduled backups should go off without a hitch. Restores should be flawless. There should be no errors, whatsoever.