TiempoLibre Archives
TiempoLibreSite:
Can you speak about yourself and your project Backup4all for the Italian public of TiempoLibreSite.com?
C.S.:
First of all, thank you for this interview. My name is Claudiu Spulber and I represent the marketing department of Softland, the company that develops Backup4all.
Backup4all, as the name suggests, is a backup utility that allows users to protect their data against hardware failure, theft or other threats. I know that many users think hardware is reliable these days, but actually it is only a matter of time until it crashes. Of course, some of the new hard drives “delay” that crash, but this is where virus attacks, software or user errors, and even theft threats intervene and increase the probability of losing your important data.
To avoid this, backing up is important, and this is where Backup4all does its best. I will not describe all the features of Backup4all, but here is a small list of what it does: it allows file filtering, has a built-in scheduler, allows backing up to CD/DVD, backs up to FTP, supports file versioning, AES encryption for zip files, backs up open files, sends email notifications and much more.
Second Question
TiempoLibreSite:
When and how did Backup4all appear?
C.S.:
Softland is a privately held software development company that started its activity in 1999. One of the most important things in a company is backing up, thus they started searching for solutions to have their work secured. After trying several solutions that were unable to provide good backup security, they started developing a backup program for internal use.
So the Backup4all project first started at the beginning of 2000 and it evolved to the point where, on 20-Dec-2002, the first version of Backup4all was officially released: version 1.0.0. It was released as a freeware utility.
With the help of the Wayback Machine, you can see how the website looked back then:
http://web.archive.org/web/20021223071414/http://www.backup4all.com/
Third Question
TiempoLibreSite:
What influenced your decision to make the progress of software like Backup4all?
C.S.:
After Backup4all was released under the freeware license, it did not take long to become popular among backup applications. Popularity brought more and more users, and they started asking for more features and support.
Thus, a decision needed to be made: either continue the development of Backup4all or stop and leave it as it was. Obviously, the project continued, and after assigning a team of developers to work full-time on Backup4all, Softland also decided to change the license to shareware, thus switching to the commercial route.
Backup4all is being improved continuously, and more and more features are added depending on the feedback we receive from users. So, back to your initial question, Softland decided to continue the project because of Backup4all’s users. It is part of our mentality to provide better solutions and to respect our customers.
Fourth Question
TiempoLibreSite:
Why is the name of the project “Backup4all”?
C.S.:
It means “backup for all”, and in Italian I guess it would be “backup per tutti”.
One of the strong points of Backup4all is the fact that it can be easily used by novice users, or powerfully tweaked by computer professionals. So it is indeed a backup solution for all users, from novices to professionals.
Fifth Question
TiempoLibreSite:
Why make three releases of Backup4all?
C.S.:
We have recently, on 6-Feb-2006, released version 3.0 of Backup4all, a major update from the previous version, 2.3.4.
We are releasing new versions mainly because we incorporate new features. But version 3 does not mean that we have released only three versions of Backup4all. With “version 3” also comes the build number, which currently is 186.
What 186 means is that since the first stable version of Backup4all 3, we have created 186 new builds. For the previous version, there were 762 new builds.
The process is this: if we correct bug reports or improve certain features, we release a new build. That new build goes through testing and, if everything is fine, we make it officially available. If it does not pass some tests, we send it back to development and a new build is created after the errors are corrected.
It is all very dynamic because we want to provide our users with the best solution.
Sixth Question
TiempoLibreSite:
All people know that a long project can become tedious. So, how has your approach to the Backup4all project changed compared to the first months of work? What are you going to do in the next years? What is the future of the Backup4all project?
C.S.:
Backup4all will continue to be developed and we will add more features and improve the existing ones in accordance with our users’ requests.
Comparing the state of the Backup4all project as it is now with its initial months, I know we have come a long way. Backup4all is growing at the same fast rhythm as its user database.
Seventh Question
TiempoLibreSite:
How many people work on the project? Who are they? What do they do?
C.S.:
Ten people are involved in the Backup4all project: four developers, three people in the support team and two for marketing.
The support team handles the technical issues that appear, gathers feedback from users, and sends bugs and feature requests to the development team. The development team is in charge of incorporating all this into Backup4all, testing and releasing new versions.
The marketing team handles the aspects of promoting Backup4all.
Eighth Question
TiempoLibreSite:
If you think of this time, from the moment when the idea of Backup4all was born until today, what is the error that you would not repeat again?
C.S.:
I cannot answer that question simply because there were more people involved in developing Backup4all from the beginning. I know that if they did something technically wrong, it was corrected soon after.
From my point of view, the error that we will not repeat is choosing a “certain” hosting company. I will not disclose any names here.
Ninth Question
TiempoLibreSite:
Did you realize all your goals with Backup4all, or did you have to accept some compromises during the present-day realization of Backup4all? If yes, what were the most difficult compromises that you had to accept?
C.S.:
The only compromises we made in the Backup4all project were those with our own time. We cannot conceive compromises in the quality of Backup4all or in the quality of our services.
Tenth Question
TiempoLibreSite:
I would like to ask you a bad question: why choose Backup4all?
C.S.:
There is no such thing as “bad questions”.
Why choose Backup4all? Well, first of all, it is a matter of trust. People will choose a certain program depending on the recommendations they get from their friends or from other trusted sources, such as magazines, newspapers and communities.
Backup4all received a lot of awards and was also reviewed by professionals from SmartComputing, PC Magazine, WUGNET, Herald and Lockergnome, who concluded that Backup4all is a very good choice. We put them online at:
http://www.backup4all.com/reviews.php
Second, it is a matter of support. We answer fast and we give accurate answers. Plus, if a user reports a bug in Backup4all and we confirm it, we release a new build as soon as possible to give that user a solution to the problem. Because this is what it is all about: giving our users the best solution.
Third, Backup4all is very easy to use. We designed it in an intuitive manner, with the help of our users. Once you install it, you can easily start a wizard that will guide you through the backup process. It only takes a few minutes to have a complete automated backup solution.
The last, but not least, is the technical aspect. Backup4all comes in three editions: Lite, Standard and Professional. What we did was group the features in such a manner that they give you the solution you need.
For companies or users looking for a fully featured backup application, the Professional edition suits them best. For home users or other users who do not need all the features of the Professional version, Lite or Standard are the solutions.
Eleventh Question
TiempoLibreSite:
Do you work on another project? If yes, what is this project?
C.S.:
Yes, we do have another shareware project that we work on. It is called novaPDF.
novaPDF, http://www.novapdf.com/, is a PDF printer driver, meaning you can use it to generate PDF files from any Windows application that supports printing.
Twelfth Question
TiempoLibreSite:
Do you want to have a name, or nickname, belonging to a person you keep in mind any time you think of the Backup4all project?
C.S.:
Well, this is a team project, so when you say Backup4all, I think of the entire team here working with the purpose of making it better. It is hard to pick a particular name.
Thirteenth Question
TiempoLibreSite:
Are you happy with the popularity of your software?
C.S.:
Yes, we are. Backup4all’s user base is continually increasing and we will do our best to keep it this way.
Fourteenth Question
TiempoLibreSite:
How has the Backup4all project influenced your private life?
C.S.:
I would not go so far as saying it influenced our private lives, but I can tell you it influences our state of mind.
When you receive comments from users praising Backup4all, you feel a certain joy knowing that you were able to participate in this, and such moments just “make your day”.
Fifteenth Question
TiempoLibreSite:
Is there anything else you would like to say to your Italian public?
C.S.:
Well, I invite them to test Backup4all. I am sure they will not regret it. Version 2 was localized in Italian and we are making the final retouches to localize Backup4all 3 into Italian too.
As a personal note, I would say that Italy is one of the most beautiful countries that I have visited. I am sure you all know that.
TiempoLibreSite:
Thank you for accepting this interview.
C.S.:
Thank you too for this opportunity.
TiempoLibre Archives
Original interview published by TiempoLibreSite.com.