Disaster Recovery Plan
Do you really need one?
In recent months I have been
asked to consult on disaster
recovery and the question I
am most commonly asked is,
“Do we really need a disaster
recovery plan?”.
This question usually comes from a
business that is concerned about the
timely investment and cost required to
create and resource a plan and usually
gleans a number of different answers.
Unfortunately these answers can be
so far reaching that it can seem that
different answers from different experts
can make the thought of implementing
a disaster recovery plan, and all of the
elements to support it, a headache.
In my opinion a disaster recovery plan
is now critically essential for businesses
of every size and every sector and
doesn’t need to be complicated or time
consuming. The benefits of maintaining
an effective disaster recovery plan
can even have a positive impact on a
business.
To remain competitive it can be important
to demonstrate to potential customers
and suppliers your ability to function no
matter what disasters may occur. Extech
are regularly asked to contribute to our
customers disaster recovery plans to
confirm that we will be able to maintain
support for our customers should Extech
suffer a disaster. Without this we may not
be able to compete within the IT services
market.
Of course maintaining an effective
disaster recovery plan can also mean
the difference between your business
surviving and disappearing overnight.
Gartner have said that only 35% of Small
to Medium sized businesses have a
comprehensive disaster recovery plan in
place. Touche Ross released a study that
found the survival rate for companies
without a disaster recovery plan is less
than 10% and a Richmond House Group
study found that 20% of small to medium
businesses will suffer a major disaster
causing loss of data every five years.
The stats can be overwhelming and
although there seems to be a huge
amount of stats out there, they vary
greatly and mostly can’t be attributed to
a valid source. The “80%” myth is well
known and although it suggests that
“80% of businesses fail within 18 months
of a disaster” these stats have never
been verified and are well known as
“sales jargon”.
As with anything, speed is usually the key
and most businesses find that having fast
access to a location to send staff to, a
phone to make/receive calls and access to
customer and supplier contacts is the first
thing required.
Making use of disaster recovery suites
that for a small cost will provide you with
a desk, a phone and a PC for each user
can often be the saving grace and provide
a business with a base to temporarily
operate from.
Having a secure, replicated backup that
can be recovered quickly or even a live
replicated infrastructure to keep downtime
to hours and not days is essential. Most
businesses cannot function without IT
services these days and making these
services available may also make the
difference.
When you look past all of these stats
the fact is that disasters do occur.
Things sometimes break and get lost,
accidents happen and often at the most
inconvenient times, as anyone who
has ever experienced a fire or simply
dropped their smartphone in the toilet
will attest to. When it comes to disaster
recovery, planning for the worst will no
doubt always yield the best results.
The detail can be overwhelming but
creating a plan is simple with the right help.
Taking quality time out to put a plan inplace and then working to make sure you
have the resources and technology around
you to react to the worst circumstances a
disaster places you in, makes you one of
the prepared few that don’t want to see
their years of hard work and endless hours
of effort disappear overnight.
Taking time to ask yourself “where you
would operate from if your premises
disappeared over night?”, “How would
you gain access to your data?”, “What
services are the most important to you as
a business?”, “What services would you
need first?”, “Who would you need to
tell?” are basic but important questions
that will help you decide what services to
prioritise.
So whether you’re deciding on
implementing, updating or changing your
disaster recovery plan, statistics can be a
strong reminder of why a plan is required
but it is important to remember that this
plan is self-preservation and making the
time to produce a plan could stop you from
becoming another statistic that can be
verified.
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