How quickly could your business resume operations if it suffered an unplanned event such as a fire, flood, tornado, power outage, cyber attack, hardware failure or human error? Would you be able to recover your data and system functionality? What would be the financial impact? How would your reputation and brand be impacted? Could your business survive? These are crucial questions all businesses need to plan for.
The statistics are alarming.
· 40% to 60% of small businesses never reopen after a disaster (FEMA)
· 90% of small businesses fail within the following year if they are unable to restore their operations within 5 days after a disaster (FEMA)
· 54% of businesses have experienced an incident in the past 5 years that last 8 or more hours (DataCore)
· 37% of businesses were attacked by ransomware in 2021 (Cloudwards)
Now for a more positive statistic. 96% of businesses with a disaster recover plan fully restore operations, proving an effective disaster recovery plan is the difference between survival and closure.
What is a disaster recovery plan?
A disaster recover plan is a documented plan that details how a business will resume operations after a disaster. An effective disaster recovery plan will allow IT to quickly recover enough data and system functionality for the business to operate.
A disaster recovery plan should include a list of all the hardware, software and cloud services necessary for the business to operate, including if it is critical and if it is owned, leased or used as a service. It should also include backup procedures and details, recover sites, staff assignments and restoration procedures.
In creating a disaster recover plan, a business should perform a risk assessment, evaluate critical needs, establish priorities, create a plan of mission critical steps, collect key info such as equipment and software inventories and staff and vendor contacts and then prepare in a written document. Key personnel should be aware of the plan. Test runs and an up-to-date document are crucial.
Need a disaster recovery plan?
Insight BTR is an experienced team of IT experts who can help you get a plan in place today. Don’t put it off before it is too late. To get started, schedule a consultation online, email info@insightbtr.com or call 608-661-0750.
