We are frequently asked the question on what should we do to make sure that we are properly backing up our FundWare or Financial Edge data?  It is important to make sure that you backup solution takes into account the ability to properly backup your SQL tables.  Many third party backup software solutions sell an add-on product to achieve this task.  For example,  Symantec Backup Exec sells an additional software module called Symantec Backup Exec 2010 Agent for Microsoft SQL License.  It allows you to have point in time restores.  It allows you to make backups of SQL while the database is running.  Also, restoring data is made quite a bit easier with the agent. 

It is also important to make sure that you are backing up all of the required components for FundWare.  If you do not have the additional FW proprietary databases backed up, you will not be able to restore your data. 

Last of all, many people setup their backup system but not review their logs for errors, skipped files, etc.  It can be a costly assumption to make that if the tape is popped out of the tape drive that it must contain all of your required data.  I think that the most important step that is rarely ever completed is to test your restore procedures.  If you had a catastrophic event, do you have all of the pieces required to get back up and running?  Some things to consider are:

Do you know where you software CD's are located?
Do you know where the license key's are located?
Do you have an inventory of all other applications that are residing on the server?
Do you have all of the data required to restore?
Do you know where you would get replacement hardware and how long it would take to procure?

At the end of the day, how do you know it will work until you test out your process?