That Look When All of Your Systems Just Crashed and You Know Everything is Going To Be Just Fine…
Having your company files and records backed-up and ready for recovery is one of those things that can save you a ton of heartbreak and devastation.
If you’re not sure whether or not your business currently has proper data back-ups and plans in place, you may soon find out the hard way.
This will end up being one of your biggest regrets.
Unfortunately, just hoping you never find yourself in a situation where you need back-ups and don’t have them isn’t enough.
Especially knowing that:
60% of businesses will go out of business within six months of a data disaster
-Boston Computing Network
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It can be a scary thought knowing that everything you’ve worked for can be gone with one disaster.
As the the Boy Scout motto goes – “Be Prepared.”
This applies to almost everything in life – including when it comes to your company records and data.
Then again, the truth of the matter is that nobody knows what’s going to happen in the future.
Usually the unexpected isn’t a disaster, it’s merely an inconvenience.
But if disaster should strike, being prepared is critical to recovering – and recovering quickly.
According to the National Computer Security Association, without adequate backup it takes:
• 19 days and $17,000 to recreate just 20 MB of lost sales / marketing data
• 21 days and $19,000 to recreate just 20 MB of lost accounting data
• 42 days and $98,000 to recreate just 20 MB of lost engineering data-National Computer Security Association
*20 MB is about 600 average-sized Excel files
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On top of that, there are many different types of disasters that can happen.
Everyone is aware of natural disasters and how they can occur out of nowhere – keep in mind that:
30% of small businesses will experience a natural disaster
-National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB)
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As if it’s not enough to have Mother Nature breathing down your neck.
There are also man-made disasters that can happen – also seemingly out of nowhere.
You and your workers aren’t perfect.
“To err is human” and any human associated with your business can accidentally make a costly mistake:
10% of small businesses will experience a major data loss as a result of human error
-National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB)
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Those are just some things to keep in mind when making decisions about the priorities of your technology.
At this point you should be a bit more afraid of a data or networking disaster than the last horror movie you’ve seen.
Please use that Boy Scout motto and get properly prepared with some plans.
Disaster Recovery Plan
Here are some pointers when it comes to putting a disaster recovery plan in place:
A disaster recovery plan identifies the processes and procedures for returning to business as usual after a disaster.
A successful disaster recovery plan should identify:
- The systems and data that are critical to your business
- The process for backing up and restoring your critical assets
- The steps required to get systems back up and running
You should also ask yourself how long you could afford to be offline in the event of a disaster.
For example, if your sales take place online, hours could be a disaster.
In other situations you may be able to withstand a 24 or 48-hour outage (businesses of this type are rare).
Other considerations to keep in mind:
- How much redundancy do you need? (If a system breaks down, another mechanism takes over automatically.)
- How would the following affect your company:
- Power outage
- Loss of Internet access
- Loss of phone service
- Natural Disaster
- Can you make changes to the network remotely in the event of an emergency?
- Forwarding phone lines?
- What if your employees can’t get to the office? Would they still be able to work?
Practice Makes Perfect
The goal of any disaster recovery plan is to get your business back up and running as soon as possible.
This is to minimize loss of revenue as well as the impact to your customers.
So, once your plan is in place, practice it.
Run your workers through the entire drill, making sure the backups are working and your staff knows what they’re supposed to do.
The story is not all doom and gloom – prevention is key.
Companies with back-up solutions and disaster recovery plans can often be up and running within hours (depending on the nature of the disaster).
But even if your business suffers the kind of disaster that keeps your doors shut for days having a plan helps.
It will ensure that you know how to keep your employees safe and get back to work as soon as possible.
Ready to get your current set up evaluated or get started with a system and plan from scratch?
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