7 Disaster Planning Essentials Your Business Should Act On Now
Introduction
If your data is important to your business and you cannot afford to have your operations halted for days – even weeks – due to data loss or corruption, then you need to read and act on the information below. A disaster can happen at any time, on any day, and is likely to occur at the most inconvenient time. If you aren’t already prepared, you run the risk of having the disaster coming before you have in place a plan to handle it.
Important Disaster Planning Essentials
- Review your business insurance. Make sure your present policy has enough liability insurance to cover your computers, desks, supplies, and other things that you’ve accumulated through the years. One thing that you’ll need if you don’t have it is a good Cyber Insurance Policy. Speak to your broker and review your insurance on an annual basis.
- Use the power of the cloud. When most Small-to-Medium Size Businesses (SMBs) check out the cost, they’re often flabbergasted at how expensive it is to convert their onsite infrastructure all to the cloud. However, we think that a hybrid approach is best. It is less costly and gives you the benefits of both worlds, but you need to do it smartly. Get expert IT guidance on this.
- Secure your data. One breach can ruin your business and force you to close up shop. Make sure the hard drives on all portable devices are encrypted, use strong passwords, keep all programs updated, and take advantage of today’s hardware and software Firewall technology. Don’t forget to enhance physical security. Old fashion thievery is still in fashion.
- Have a simple Disaster Recovery Plan in place. The keyword here is “simple.” If your plan gets too complicated or difficult, you won’t do it. At a minimum, think of the most common disasters and plan for them. If you need a plan, download ours. It’s in MS Excel format and easy to use.
- Educate your employees. Cyber-criminals use various methods to hack business networks, but their weapon of choice is social engineering. They’re masters at tricking employees into giving up confidential information and allowing access to the company’s network.
- Don’t rely on one person to be your computer expert. Think about what would happen if your computer guy suddenly quits? If you don’t have an in-house, fully staffed IT Department, then outsource the management of your network to a Managed Services Provider (MSP) with the staff and expertise to serve you. You cannot put a price on IT expertise.
- Stop thinking about merely backing up your data and think Business Continuity. The best backup system is a Hybrid-cloud Business Continuity Disaster Recovery solution, also known as BCDR. A Hybrid-cloud BCDR system takes snapshots of an entire server, saves it to an onsite appliance, and simultaneously to two geographically dispersed data centers in the cloud. Each snapshot can be “spun up” into a virtual server in minutes. A BCDR system will automatically “spin up” an image daily to ensure the backup is viable. With a BCDR, Time-To-Recovery is measured in minutes to hours versus a data-only backup, where recovery can take days to weeks.
Conclusion
If you don’t have the above essentials covered, you’re playing with fire. Did you know that 60% of businesses that lose their data in a disaster permanently close their doors within six (6) months? That is a harsh statistic, but a reality nevertheless. It takes planning to survive a disaster, natural or man-made. Don’t put it off, do it now so your business can thrive and survive going forward.
XSolutions is an Elite Partner of Datto, the world leader in Hybrid-Cloud Business Continuity solutions whose systems protect 460+ Petabytes of data with over 1400+ employees and 9 offices around the globe. Call (845) 362-9675 and let us introduce you to the ultimate defense against data loss—whatever the cause. Backup & Disaster Recovery | Business Continuity | Data Risk Assessment
