Disaster Recovery is not always the first thing business owners take into consideration when running a company. With this said, digital threats are a serious liability and danger to businesses. Disasters such as cyber-attacks, floods, fires, employee errors, and hardware malfunctions are only a few of the reasons to invest in an IT disaster recovery plan. A plan helps businesses take the necessary precautions to tackle any digital threat. It not only informs the business owner but the staff as a whole as well.

An IT disaster recovery plan outlines a plan of action to stay safe, all while keeping business owners updated with the latest tools and trends. Disasters happen all the time, so why not have your team 10 steps ahead of the game? IT companies such as Elevated Technologies strive to help businesses stay educated and out of harm’s way when it comes to security breaches or data loss.

As employees become more knowledgeable about digital threats, there is still no guarantee that anyone is risk-free. The importance of a data recovery plan is to prepare with techniques and tools before the disaster happens. Today, more than 80% of the nation’s population is working remotely. This means that employees are at even more risk of cyber attacks, considering home connections tend to be less secure.

Developing an IT Disaster Recovery Plan

Any amount of downtime during a security breach can cause a business to suffer financially. Not to mention the stress of losing profitability and reputation. The more downtime a business has the more costly it becomes to restore. Review the below steps and questions to help you avoid financial loss and minimize risk.

IT Disaster Recovery Plan Steps:

• Collect an inventory of hardware such as servers, desktops, laptops, and wireless devices as well as software applications and data.
• Identify critical data and perform regular backups, to guarantee the protection of all data. One of the most common and cost-effective services that perform backups is the “cloud”. Cloud services secure all critical data in the event of a hardware malfunction or data threat. This ensures data is secure and accessible through any given device.
• Create a system of action if and when a disaster or security breach happens. This would include assigning roles, procedures, routes of communication, and practice. A business disaster recovery plan should act as a checklist for the staff in case of an emergency.

Questions to ask yourself:

• What needs to be considered in creating your plan?
• Do you know the consequences of “x amount” of downtime for your company?
• What data is considered “crucial”?
• How often should data be backed up?

Disaster Recovery Strategies and Procedures

An IT Recovery Strategy is developed in the business impact analysis and is responsible for all business functions and processes. Without all hardware, software, data, and connectivity, it could mean failure. Businesses that can’t tolerate any downtime will oftentimes use dual data centers. This handles all processing needs. Because data mirrors between the two centers, this lessens the chance of lost data. However, this isn’t always ideal for every company. This can end up being very costly, so this is usually an option for larger companies. Small to midsize companies have other options like using an internal recovery strategy. This model stores data at more than one facility and can use the vendor strategy where they rely on vendors to fully configure data.

Business Impact Analysis

A business impact analysis is an assessment that identifies all potential risks and vulnerabilities of a business. Complete this risk assessment before creating an IT disaster recovery plan. This reduces the chance of blindsiding a company by any disruptions. It also prepares a business for the consequences of those interruptions.

Data Cloud Backup Services

Data loss can happen at any given time. Whether it’s caused by natural disasters, hardware malfunctions, or ransomware attacks. Backups help businesses save and store data in a secure place to where compromised data is restorable. Cloud backup services are a cost-efficient way users can feel confident in their protected data.

Disaster Training and Testing

Although there isn’t any guarantee a disaster won’t happen, there are ways businesses can stay updated and prepared. Implementing security training can help employees learn about the risks of ransomware attacks. This will give individuals specifics to keep an eye out for in the event of an attack

Assessing Your Current IT Backup System

Protecting your business with an IT disaster recovery plan begins with assessing your current system and processes. Contact Elevated Technologies for help deciding which step to take next in safeguarding your important information.