Data is the lifeblood of any company, usually stored in a variety of places. Data is necessary for every element of operations, including communications, sales, and more. If something goes wrong with that data, therefore, a business could find itself in a position where it is no longer able to operate. This is why having an excellent data recovery strategy in place is absolutely vital to the overall survival of a company.
Some Facts to Be Aware of
We have all heard of data breaches, including those with Tumblr, MySpace, the iCloud, and more. These companies have found their reputation destroyed, with public confidence dropping to an all-time low. Additionally, they have found themselves in some legal difficulties as well, as customers’ personal details were released and sold on the dark web.
Considering the fact that virtually everybody is aware of these problems, and that they happen regularly, you might be surprised to hear that just 10% of companies currently only back their data up once per year. Additionally, thousands only back their data up once a month. The reality is that losing data can cripple a business, and not having an up to date backup of it available is an absolute disaster.
Setting Up a Disaster Recovery Plan
The vulnerability of a business is also its weakest link. On average, 77% of workers leave their desks without first closing down their screen. People just don’t believe that it can happen to them, but it can. This is why it is so important to start any disaster recovery plan with educating staff to make sure disasters don’t happen in the first place.
The cost of cybercrime runs in the billions of dollars. Businesses lose money, but so do customers if their data is compromised. Furthermore, the business’ reputation is destroyed and the long term financial cost is unmeasurable. In a recent study, it was found that some £27 billion is lost every year in total when all the financial costs of data breaches are added up together. That is a staggering amount, and one that could easily be reduced.
One way that it can be reduced is by being realistic, and by putting plans in place to combat that. For instance, as stated, people leave their computers unattended. No matter how often you educate your staff on not to do that, they will continue anyway. So why not put a system in place that closes a screen down after one minute of inactivity? Or what about the fact that natural disasters also happen, and so few businesses have systems in place for that? It is very good to have the best firewall and virus scanner in place as standard, but if a tornado destroys your building, everything will still be lost.
Data recovery is incredibly complex and it is very rare for 100% of the data to be recovered. As such, you must contact a data recovery company as soon as possible so that they can help you write up a strategy and have a contingency plan in place should something go wrong.