MLSBackup.net - New emergency MLS system for brokerages and MLS boards
What is MLS Backup?
MLS Backup is a product that was created to ensure that both MLSs and brokerages have a backup plan in the event of a catastrophic hardware failure or ransomware attack.
(Photo of New MLS Backup Branding)
The goal is to have a listing system already in place (a backup system) to allow Realtors® to keep doing their business if something terrible happens to their primary MLS.
A backup MLS system that can be turned on “that same day”.
What are the benefits of MLS Backup?
The name is actually a triple entendre. If you are using this MLS system you are provided with the following key benefits:
- Redundant backups of all of your listings
- An MLS system with add, edit, delete, and syndicate
- Disaster recovery and repopulation
Redundant backups of all of your listings
The purpose of this is to make sure you have a “third party” backup of your listings.
Your MLS system does already have a backup of your listings, however, as we’ve learned from the recent Rapatonni ransomware attack, accessing those backups in an actionable and immediate way and having them “use ready” is a different story.
(screenshot of NorthstarMLS current user of MLSbackup.net)
It’s not that your MLS systems provider (or even your brokerage) doesn’t have your listings backed up. It’s that those backups are not highly available and ready for use in a crisis
And why would you not a redundant backup? Because you already have a backup of your own?
That is the very definition of redundancy. To have backups on backups for your critical systems so that no matter what systems fail (and they do fail), you have a way to access your data.
It’s prudent and responsible planning and it’s so affordable there is literally no reason not to have a redundant backup in place.
An MLS system for critical functions
We’re not trying to be a “full MLS” in the traditional sense. There are already many great vendors in the space. Our MLS platform provides the business-critical features Realtors® need to get their listings out there and continue to generate offers and close deals.
These critical features are:
- Add
- Edit/update
- Delete
- Syndicate
If Realtors® have these functions while their MLS is down, they can keep doing business.
Imagine being able to flip a switch and having a place to manage your listings that was already connected to the “existing” MLS data (up to the time of the outage) and being able to simply pick up where you left off and continue to add to that data.
(Global MLS Portal ListingsByLocation.com - example syndication partner)
If you need to do a critical update to a price, status, or anything else listings related you could do so quickly and easily. New listings that need to get out there can be published and your real estate business can continue.
Syndication is also a critical component of an MLS system. Getting your listings on Zillow, Realtor.com, Luxuryrealestate.com, and potentially hundreds of other portals and syndication partner sites. We can even send IDX feeds to your website vendors. Of course, Real Estate Webmasters are pre-coded.
Our MLS platform can generate the feeds necessary to ensure your listings are syndicated be they, XML, JSON, RETS, we can even support custom use cases.
Disaster Recovery and Repopulation
Your MLS is back up and running. Now you have to repopulate your listings in the MLS which can take hours (or days) depending on the size of your company.
By using MLS Backup, we can help your MLS get “back up” (see what we did there) by providing a feed of the most current listings directly back to the MLS.
This feed not only includes any new listings during the downtime, it also includes all the edits, so they can update existing listings data as well. Imagine having to remember and redo all of the “edits” you made to listings while they were down. What a nightmare!
Our goal is to make the process of listings recovery much faster, easier, and far less painful
A cost-effective backup solution.
In order for this platform to be easily adopted it also needs to be cost effective. Our idea is that when not being actively used (listings backup only) the pricing will be extremely affordable.
So affordable in fact that price cannot possibly be an objection.
When the service is in active use (which let’s all hope is never) our pricing for using the platform will be similar (but less) than the cost of the MLS that is down. At least 50% less in most cases