When disaster strikes, will your business weather the storm? In this article, we have briefly outlined the things you need to consider when choosing Cloud backup solutions, and how to create your own disaster recovery plans. To help you get to grips with the basics, we have also created a handy infographic that doubles as a checklist that you can download and share.
When disaster strikes
In today’s digital world, data is the lifeblood of commerce. Today, approximately 333.2 billion emails are sent per day.1 That’s a lot of data being saved to desktop computers, servers, laptops and mobile devices. Now, image your business suffers a power outage, the server room floods, the building catches fire or you are hit by a cyberattack. Unlikely, right? According to a 2019 article on the UK Fire website, there were over 26,000 fires in industrial and commercial buildings in the previous three years.2
Flood damage caused by Storm Dennis back in February 2020 is estimated to have cost insurers £225 million.3 Additionally, a RICS Research Report on Flood Risk Mitigation and Commercial Property Advice stated the UK insurance industry paid out approximately £446 million in business claims after the winter 2013-14 flood event.4 Over 60,000 UK businesses reported a cyber-attack in 2021.5 Regrettably, businesses are hit by unforeseen incidents every day. Luckily, most of them recover. However, lose all your data and the effect can be ruinous.
The costs of a crisis
According to an IBM Global Services study, the average cost of an unplanned application outage was estimated to be £2.1 million pounds per hour.6 Every extra hour it takes you to recover your systems and data following a cyberattack, data breach or natural disaster will cost you more money. What’s more, research by the University of Texas found that 51% of companies that suffer catastrophic data loss go out of business within two years. The faster you can recover your systems and data following an incident the better the outcome will be.
Cloud backup solutions
First, you will need a robust data backup solution. There are many different Cloud backup solutions available. Things to consider before making your choice of backup system include reliability, security, accessibility, compliance, ease-of-use, technical support and cost. We also recommend you follow the data backup ‘Rule of Three’:
- Keep three copies of your data
- Save data onto two storage media types
- Store one copy of your data offsite i.e. Cloud backup.
Finally, it is essential that you test your backup systems regularly. Remember, your backup system is worthless if you cannot restore your data when needed.
Disaster recovery plans
Next, you need a disaster recovery plan to wrap around your backup solution. Things to think about when preparing your disaster recovery plan are the likelihood of certain events (risk assessment), the possible outcomes (business impact analysis), security precautions, the criticality of data you want to recover, how frequently you run backups and who will perform them. You will also want to do some scenario planning such as how you will respond to a full systems failure, power outage, fire or flood. What emergency equipment will you need, for instance? Make sure you document the various processes and procedures of your plan. Then ensure that all your staff know what to do in a crisis. Lastly, you will want to test the robustness of your plans to confirm they work as predicted.
Prepared to weather the storm
Losing data can be stressful, inconvenient, and costly. However, having the right Cloud backup solutions and disaster recovery plans can be the difference between weathering the storm and going under. To help you, Modern Networks have created a Data Backup and Disaster Recovery Plan infographic that summarizes how best to protect your data and safeguard your business.
To learn more about Cloud backup solutions and disaster recovery planning, contact Modern Networks now.
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