To investigate this cost lets simply list the tasks required when using tapes.

1. Purchase tape drive and initial set of tapes
   
2. At the end of each day insert tape into drive and run backup
   
3. Usually the following day someone removes tapes and inserts a blank for the next backup
   
4. Port the tape to an off site location
   
5. rental space of secure off site location

Now let's consider the actual cost using man days.

Initial cost

Tape purchase and delivery: £(4 man days)

Tape conditioning and labelling: £(0.5 man day)

Learning how tape drive system works: £(0.5 man day)

Process for rotating and storing tapes: £(0.5 man day)

Total: £(5.5 man days)

Ongoing cost per month

Inserting new tape into drive: £(2 man days per month)

Porting tape to secure off site location: £(4 man days per month)

Data centre rental for off site location: equivalent to £(1 man day per month)

We haven't included duplicating tapes and storing each in a separate location. Add £(4 man days per month).

Total: £(11 man days per month)
or £(7 man days per month) leaving out tape duplication.

So how much is your time worth per day? Insert the figure into the totals above to work out the true cost of using tapes.

With online data backup simply pay a month fee according to the amount of data you want to backup. See typical pricing for a good professional service here.

Professional online data backup