Businesses in all industries rely very heavily on computers for the success of their company and to manage many different areas of the operation. Every device will have important company and customer data which is critical to the business. Unfortunately, there are also a lot of threats to this data and modern-day technology which needs to be considered by a business. Every company would need to have security planning in place, which can minimise the impact of lost/damaged data and help the company to stay afloat if any kind of incident were to occur. One of the most effective strategies for doing this is through a process known as Disaster Recovery.
What Is Disaster Recovery?
So, what exactly is Disaster Recovery? This is the process of resuming normal business operations after a disaster which has impacted the company (usually related to IT). This is likely to include regaining access to data which has been lost/corrupted but could also apply to hardware, software, and connectivity. Disaster Recovery will be a set of procedures that are followed after a disaster that allows a business to continue operating as normal, and it is a key part of security planning.
What Disasters Are A Threat?
In today’s digital world, there are many threats to a business which must be considered. Essentially, any unforeseen event which can put your company at risk and interfere with operations is viewed as a disaster. This obviously includes disasters like floods, fire and power outages, but more often than not in today’s day and age, it will be some form of digital threat, such as a computer virus, hacker or loss of data.
Cybercrime is a huge threat to businesses of all sizes and in all industries, and there have been many high profile hacks in the last few years. This will only continue with new threats constantly being developed by cybercriminals all around the world, but fortunately, cybersecurity is also constantly evolving and finding ways to protect individuals and businesses. Despite this, Disaster Recovery remains crucial for businesses as the cost of disasters can be enormous.
The Cost Of Disasters
A disaster can be devastating for any sized business. Even just one hour of downtime can cost a company thousands of pounds, so without Disaster Recovery in place any kind of event could financially ruin a business. Additionally, a disaster such as an infiltration could be incredibly costly and see a business lose important company and/or customer data. In addition to the financial cost of disasters, there is also the reputation cost as well, as it is hard to rebuild consumer trust if your business has suffered due to a disaster which could have been avoided.
Data Backup & Restoration
Disaster Recovery includes all of the actions taken to manage any kind of disaster. Data backup is an action that is taken before a disaster and includes creating copies of important data so that there is another version available if the original file is lost or corrupted. There are many different ways that you can back up important data, including creating a bootable backup which is a backup of your entire hard drive. This is a smart move for businesses because it means that you should never lose any important data and data restoration can drastically costly downtime.
What Does A Disaster Recovery Plan Consist Of?
A Disaster Recovery Plan will be a detailed plan which will contain information on action to take in the situation of different disasters. A few of the key aspects of any Disaster Recovery Plan includes:
- Contact information for key personnel
- Emergency response actions to take immediately after a disaster
- Identifying critical IT assets and detailing maximum outage time
- A list of systems, software, license keys which are needed in the recovery
- Technical documentation
- Insurance details
- How to deal with financial, legal and press fallout from the disaster
Who Is Responsible For Disaster Recovery?
The IT team should coordinate the plan but the CEO, directors, department heads, HR and PR officials should all be aware of what it contains. You can also find specialists who can help a business to create a Disaster Recovery plan which is suited to their business.
Testing & Updating The Plan
It is hoped that you will never have to use Disaster Recovery but it is important to know that it works in case. It is for this reason why it is so important for a business to test their Disaster Plan on a regular basis much like you would test the fire safety procedures. You should test for every type of disaster and take note of how long the plan takes to enact, whether key individuals know their responsibilities and how much downtime you experience.
In addition to testing, it is also important to update the plan periodically. This could be an update to strengthen the plan after finding an area of weakness during a test or it could be an update to cope with new cyber threats which have been developed.
How It Can Help A Business
A Disaster Recovery plan can help a business by making sure that any threat is minimised and that the business can continue as normal following a disaster. There are many threats to a modern-day business and even just an hour’s downtime could be devastating to any sized business. Disaster Recovery can save a business by making sure that there are no significant financial losses, that there are no legal issues and that the brand retains a positive reputation.
Businesses need to be aware of the importance of Disaster Recovery as it can save a company. In today’s digital age, a business relies very heavily on IT and technology to keep the operation running each day, but there are also many threats to IT and tech with cybercrime being at the top of this list. You can mitigate the risk of this with a Disaster Plan which will reduce the impact of a disaster and help to keep important data and information available at all times.
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