25% of firms closed by disaster will never reopen

Among others, a common myth is that Disaster Recovery is only for major disasters. This leaves organizations vulnerable to more common incidents.

What is a Disaster Recovery Plan (DRP)?

A Disaster Recovery Plan (DRP) is a business plan that describes how work can be resumed quickly and effectively after a disaster that results in a major disruption of business.

Disaster recovery planning is part of business continuity planning and applied to aspects of an organization that rely on an IT infrastructure to function. The overall idea is to develop a plan that will allow the IT department to recover enough data and system functionality to allow a business or organization to operate.

The case for DR Planning

Here’s a sobering thought: 92% of companies have encountered at least 1 disruption to their business systems. Mother Nature gets the best of the attention when we think of disaster recovery — hurricanes, blizzards, tornados, and earthquakes all quickly spring to mind. And they are, obviously, real threats.

But they distract attention from more common threats like power failure, network outage, and hardware failure. ANY disruption to your business – caused by nature, a hacker, or a negligent or disgruntled employee – needs to be planned for so that you can continue business operations.

The following are the main external drivers for DRP:

  • Any time a natural disaster or major IT outage occurs, it increases executive awareness and internal pressure to create a DRP.
  • Industry standards and government regulations are driving external pressure to develop business continuity and disaster recovery (BCDR) plans.
  • Customers are asking suppliers and partners to provide evidence that they have a workable DRP before agreeing to do business.
  • The protection of data stored in the cloud (ex. Office 365) is a Shared Responsibility (read the terms of service).

Benefits of a Disaster Recovery Service

Having a plan takes time and effort. Not having a plan could expose your organization to legal, financial and other risks. But what about the technology? Having sufficiently capable technology goes hand-in-hand with a DRP.

Here are a few noteworthy benefits:

  • Your data is managed by experts in data backup and disaster recovery practices
  • Fast recovery times
  • Ability to test the plan without disrupting your business operations
  • Simple pricing for easier budgeting year after year
  • Compliance with standards and regulations
  • Peace of mind. Your data will be there when you need it

It’s time for you to get started on your disaster recovery plan and ensure your business’s continuity in the event of a natural disaster or other business disruption.

How new technology impacts DR

Small to medium-sized businesses (SMBs) often have the edge when it comes to adopting new technology. SMBs can quickly roll out the latest applications, try cloud based solutions or, take advantage of BYOD and other trends.

While this agility can give the SMB a competitive advantage, it can also dramatically increase the complexity of their environment, especially when it comes to Disaster Recovery Planning.

With greater reliance on technology, comes greater scrutiny from stakeholders to regulators on an organization’s ability to quickly recover from a disruption and get back to normal operations.

You could be one of the lucky 8% who have not experienced a business disruption. You could continue to trust in luck. But a better option is to develop a disaster recovery plan.

Download our DRP Framework