Why is a disaster recovery strategy important?

Data, whether employee, customer, financial or prospect data, is vital to the successful operation of any business. We all know it needs to be backed up but the scale and complexity of the data and applications we use every day can make this a daunting task. However, without a robust strategy in place, if you do suffer a major disaster, or a significant system failure, not having reliable and accessible backups in place could result in irrecoverable damage to your business.

A good DR strategy should ensure maximum security, accessibility, reliability and affordability.

Top causes of data loss & downtime:

• 44% hardware failure
• 32% human error
• 14% software corruption
• 7% computer viruses
• 3% natural disaster

Source: World Backup Day 2015 / Zerto Report

When devising your DR strategy you need to…

• Make a record of all hardware and software applications
• Assess the impact of any potential downtime / data loss; RPO – Recovery Point Objective (how much data can you afford to lose?), RTO Recovery Time Objective (how long can you afford to have your critical systems down?)
• Prioritise the importance of the different applications / types of data you use
• Agree clear responsibilities for your employees and your suppliers
• Document a clear process for what should happen in the event of a disaster
• Carry out regular rehearsals to test your plan
• Check the validity of the data you are backing up regularly; don’t assume it’s correct
• How confident are you that you can recover your data and get back up and running in your expected timeframes?
• Create a communications plan. What do you need to tell your staff about how they can carry on working?  How will you assure your customers, suppliers and other stakeholders that you have everything in place to continue operating?

Did you know…

• 64% of companies experienced major disruptions in the last 12 months – source EMC
• 400% growth in total volume of data loss in just 2 years – source Security Week
• 71% of IT decision makers are not confident in their ability to recover – source CIO Insight

There are a number of different data backup solutions available so it’s important you select the options that best suit your requirements and your budget! Our consultants will work with you to develop the right solution for your business whether that on-premise, in the cloud, or a combination of both.

Click to find out more about our DR and Backup solutions.