I tried to start a discussion on this topic once before - but it did not get too far! So, let me try again.

First, a little background: This morning another popular SaaS CRM solution, Entellium, is in deep do-do. See: http://www.bizjournals.com/seattle/stories/2008/09/29/daily36.html?ana=from_rss

Now we all hope nothing like this ever happens to Infusionsoft!! But, stuff happens!

So, the question is, if we are being responsible business managers, what process should we follow to create a comprehensive backup of our data. By comprehensive, I mean a complete set of files that we could pick up and move on down the road to try to resume our normal business operations.

Yes, I know, we all feel sick just thinking about having to do stuff like this! But I do think we should talk about it - just in case. Hopefully, some of the Infusionsoft folks will man-up and offer their best suggestions.

More later,

Rich Bohn

I have started a "similar thread" in another forum about what exactly CAN be backed up, by us.

For instance.. there is currently no way to dump, say, All Tempaltes as .RTF docs.

Nor is there a way to dump say, an action sequence, or .. well, a lot of stuff.

More important to me, right now.. is the ability for infusion support to RESTORE items when *I* blunder.

This is a particularly sore point for me, because twice now, I have not been able to get back to the point I need.. and support has (so far) refused to specify what they can and cannot restore.

And, there are no methods for us for (mass) back up our own data (shy of user data.)

I would like to lend my voice to this thread as well. One of the business units I manage is online backup, and I spend a good part of my day talking to people who have lost 'everything' due to lack of backup (as sadly, this is the position most people find themselves in immediately before looking for an online backup company.)

I do not like it AT ALL that I am unable to back up much of the valuable data.

I understand that it makes no sense to back up things tied to infusionsoft logic, but at a minimimum I would like to have:

1) all tags/groups associated with each person
2) email history
3) Double or Single opt-in, or opt-out status
4) All templates
5) All sequences including delay time and step
6) products/groups/pricing/order history/subscriptions/CC info

(If I've left anything out, somebody please add to the list), but my point is, if infusionsoft changes direction, or if I accidentally delete something, or if infusitionsoft accidentally deletes something, it would be IMPOSSIBLE to rebuild.

Now, for things I could re-build, such as marketing sequences, it would take hundreds of hours of wasted time to re-build it.

So, because so much of this information is impossible to rebuild, and because so much of it is very difficult to rebuild, I emphatically ask "Please give us a way to back this up!"

This is PRECISELY what I'm asking for as well.

And, what's more.. Infusion support *SHOULD* be able to restore *ANY*:

() Marketing sequence
() Condition
() Order information

...anything. Anything.

It's simply "not published" what's possible inside Infusion-land when we call for a problem.

Right now.. tech-support is "Batting 0%" for me with regards to restores. And, I might add, one of the BIG SELLING POINTS for me (at least I thought) was the ability for restoration.

Again, I know.. I know.. I can "snap back in case of emergency" to a specific point in time.

But, really, that's not what I need, unless I really bone things up.

However, I deleted 10 templates by accident.. and.. that was it. They're gone. I can't get those back.

And that really sucks.

Still an InfusionFan...(but not happy about this particular issue.)

-Jeremy

I'd like to share my perspective on this, as it does raise a great point. However, let me preface that this is strictly my opinion and not that of the Company. (...But it could be. )

In many SaaS implementations, I agree that users should be able to make a backup on demand when they feel (or automatically) so they can reasonably take steps to assure the integrity of their business.

Infusionsoft provides the option of backing up non-sensitive data. That is, data which isn't related to credit cards. As far as things such as templates, one would need to save those manually should they desire.

Infusionsoft takes your data seriously. For every change in the application, the servers replicate it three times. That's overkill for most people, but for businesses which need reliability -- we offer that.

Infusionsoft also isn't an immature startup. We've grown quite a bit with no chances of stopping anytime soon. We have very positive outlook in our future and it would take a heck of a lot of wind to blow this house down.

That said, I totally agree we should offer more extensive backups available to users in the event of user error (or malicious user error, like an ex-employee); to ultimately provide peace of mind for users.

I suggest for any other suggestions (or demands)... go ahead and throw it up on http://ideas.infusionsoft.com/ and vote on it. Ideas that voted the highest will be queued up for the next-following release.

~Joe

So, its apparent, and I agree, that we should allow some way for users to backup their data.

At the same time, there is no restriction on how many templates, f/up sequences, etc that you have in your app.

So, my suggestion is - Don't Delete Stuff!!!

Mark things as "inactive" and set them aside.

Then you can always refer to them later.

Just a thought!

For reference, I've transposed this thread into an official suggestion for the Infusionsoft Product Management.

http://ideas.infusionsoft.com/pages/general/suggestions/33961

Now, go ahead and vote on it.

Re: Joe's comment "Infusionsoft also isn't an immature startup. We've grown quite a bit with no chances of stopping anytime soon. We have very positive outlook in our future and it would take a heck of a lot of wind to blow this house down."

As I have said before, I wish nothing but the best for Infusionsoft! However, Entellium has been around longer, has far more favorable press and more VC cash. There is just now way to predict who might win or lose in today's uncertain economic climate. And, I suspect things may get a lot more weird after November 3rd!

Let's just keep a healthy discussion going on this topic until we spiral in on the best recommendations!

Rich Bohn

Ideally, we should be able to export our entire database including all data attached to a contact record like order history... at least let us back up the critical data like orders, contact info, etc.

I agree, backups of all data is really essential...and something we should all be able to do. With other CRM solutions like Sugar to Salesforce, you can backup contact records to your hearts content, but I'm not sure why Infusion puts the limitation on us users...hopefully this will change sooner rather then later.