When it comes to implementing new technology, is “my data won’t be safe” the new “dog ate my homework”?
Many facility maintenance pros aren’t convinced that building inspections data collected on a mobile device is secure. I encounter engineers who still believe paper is better, no matter what, on a regular basis. Their feeling is that anything on the internet can be “hacked” and traded for bitcoin.
“I will stand tall with all my records intact when all the world’s computer networks crash!”
For the record, this would cause infinitely larger problems than losing your recent meter readings. But even in this extreme case, your digital data would still be safe when they turned the juice back on.
This sentiment is a weak excuse for not adopting technology that can truly help your facility, and it’s based on a misunderstanding! People are missing out on the benefits of digital data.
It reminds me of 4th or 5th grade. I hadn’t completed my homework and used an “exploding pen” as an alibi. Avoiding the inevitable assignment was a bad idea. But more importantly, I based my excuse on something that I didn’t understand.
I had only heard the expression, “my pen exploded” but it sounded pretty destructive. So I found a way to extract pen ink and smear ink all over my assignment. My “ink explosion” looked ridiculous and in the mid-1980s, handouts were printed on a ditto machine in the teachers lounge, so I couldn’t get a clean copy to start over or actually do the work. I took my obvious fake to school the next day.
Nobody bought the harrowing story of a freak pen explosion. Or my fake ink soaked paper. In fact, that isn’t what a “pen explosion” even means.
ditto machine-80s kids remember
Like my embarrassing misunderstanding of leaky pens, a misunderstanding of data security keeps many facility teams from the benefits that a digital inspections platform provides. Are data worries holding your team back?
The arguments:
- Paper can’t be hacked. It’s true; you can’t use the Internet to steal data from a handwritten sheet in a file cabinet. Paper is very “hackable” in it’s own way though. Make a copy, change historical data, steal it, destroy it. In some ways it’s the hackiest.
- Paper doesn’t crash and lose all your data. Well no, that’s true. But your paper data can be destroyed in a thousand different ways, or lost, or infested. While digital records are easily backed up and recoverable. And the right software shouldn’t crash, making it important to choose the right tool.
- Paper doesn’t need the internet. Also true, but any modern device can hang on to lots of data until it’s safe to upload. And as far as destroying or losing your device…. I admit that it is possible, but it’s difficult to lose any data with cloud backup, and even then, it will only be minimal. Paper has no backup at all, and with all of the benefits that digital provides, it’s a no brainer.
- Battery life. Batteries! The whole world is using 1 of 2 types of charging cable. Besides, your devices won’t delete anything you’ve entered into them when they run out of battery life.
When looked at more closely, it’s easy to see that these are thin arguments. If you believe them unconditionally, you are at a huge disadvantage now and in the future.
Confusion about data in general fuels this misconception. It’s understandable; current events involving our personal data being abused are permeating. But, the data collected by websites or shared on social media is treated very differently than data you collect around your building. It’s far safer.
We obviously can’t speak for all software, but here’s how it works in LogCheck. Your data is:
- Instantly saved on your device when you make an entry
- Synced within your team when your device finds wifi or mobile network
- All transferred data is encrypted (turned into a unique code for safe data transfer)
- Synced data is already backed up remotely on secure Amazon Web Services servers
Your data is safe.
There is absolutely nothing wrong with a good manual handwritten system. But when new technology can save you time and money, it’s time to consider a change.
Check out the low effort, low cost, super high value solution we provide to replace maintenance documentation that isn’t cutting the mustard anymore. It’s a breeze to use and will not compromise your data security.
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