Regardless of company size and industry, every business needs a disaster recovery plan. In a survey conducted by the National Archives & Records Administration in Washington, D.C., United States, researchers found that 93 percent of companies that suffered data loss for 10 days or more due to a disaster filed for bankruptcy within one year.
Moreover, 50 percent of businesses without an effective data management in place in the same time period also filed for bankruptcy almost immediately.
Data loss is an inevitable part of business operations. While it is expected, companies cannot be fully aware when it will strike. However, there are many ways to prepare for and handle it when it does strike. This is where a disaster recovery practitioner comes into play.
A disaster recovery practitioner discovers and investigates the problems involved in disaster-related data loss and mitigates the damages. These experts perform risk analysis in company databases and points out the vulnerable points in the systems to develop strategies that can lessen risks and perceived losses.
A disaster recovery practitioner is also in charge of executing the developed plans and strategies as well as documenting the problems and actions taken, and ensures business continuity.
Here are the top 10 reasons why every business needs to have one in their teams.
What you'll find in this article
- 1 Reason #1: Machines fail
- 2 Reason #2 Human errors are inevitable
- 3 Reason #3: Mother nature is unpredictable
- 4 Reason #4: Customers demand 24/7/365 access
- 5 Reason #5: Cyberattacks are possible
- 6 Reason #6: Customers expect service perfection
- 7 Reason #7: Customer retention is expensive
- 8 Reason #8: Inside jobs happen
- 9 Reason #9: The number of data breaches is increasing
- 10 Reason #10: Change management can affect IT security
Reason #1: Machines fail
Today, businesses are all the more dependent on their machines and hardware. A machine or hardware malfunction can do much damage not just to your business operations but also to your customers.
In a survey conducted by Mozy Online Backup, researchers found that 140,000 hard drives crash weekly in the United States. Eliminating every single failure entry point in the company’s IT infrastructure is an expensive project. However, this is the only way businesses can ensure that a hardware or machine failure will not interrupt business operations and lead to a data breach or loss.
Reason #2 Human errors are inevitable
Despite effective strategies and plans in place, human errors are the hardest to prevent. People are not perfect, and many minor errors are often overlooked in the greater scheme of things. However, these small mishaps are huge windows that can lead to data breach and business disasters.
According to the CompTIA study, human error is responsible for 52 percent of security breach causes. The important thing to remember is to prepare for the worst and have efficient business processes in place so that team members, even the non-technical ones, know what to do when human error accidents occur.
Reason #3: Mother nature is unpredictable
According to the Disaster Recovery Preparedness Council’s 2014 Annual Report, 60 percent of businesses that suffered data loss due to a natural disaster will eventually shut down within 6 months of the event.
Nature’s wrath, like machine malfunction, is also part of operating a business, especially in locations prone to natural disasters such as tsunamis, typhoons, hurricanes, and flooding.
Business continuity and data recovery plans should be set in place so people will know what to do and how to get things going in a short amount of time.
Reason #4: Customers demand 24/7/365 access
We are living in a highly connected world that is always up and running. Customers are more demanding and want access to be readily available anytime, anywhere, and all the time.
Businesses know that competition is tight and whoever can give the fastest and most reliable service access to customer wins the game. This, then, presents more challenges to companies to keep their systems going.
A short interruption can lead not only to just loss of time but also in livelihood, money, and customers. Having a disaster recovery practitioner on board ensures that businesses can stay in operation and get back online despite a major disaster, system malfunction, or human error.
Reason #5: Cyberattacks are possible
According to the Interstate Technology & Regulatory Council (ITRC) Data Breach Reports – 2015 Year-End Totals, in 2015, more than 169 million personal records have been exposed due to 781 publicized breaches across several sectors including government, healthcare, financial, education, and business.
The shift to online data provided hackers with more opportunities for cyber attacks. This is where having a Backup & Disaster Recovery (BDR) plan can help companies limit the attack’s impacts and prevent the company from losing more than just valuable data.
Reason #6: Customers expect service perfection
For customers, tight competition is a win-win situation. Since there are many players in the field, competition can lead to lower prices, increased perks, and highly customized services and products. Due to competition, customers also expect perfection.
Data loss and breaches can cost a business its customers and reputation, which can lead to bankruptcy and even cause it to close their doors.
Reason #7: Customer retention is expensive
Customer loyalty depends on the type of service you provided. A long-standing relationship with a customer can easily be cut with a single data breach or data loss incident. Wooing back irate customers is even more expensive than retaining existing ones. This is why companies need to ensure that despite the threats of machine failures, human errors and natural disasters that can affect operations, they can easily get back on their feet as fast as they can.
Reason #8: Inside jobs happen
Trust but always check. Companies should not just look for threats coming from the outside, but from also from the ones inside the organization. There are many reasons why your own employees can be coerced to take part in inside jobs that can lead to data loss and breaches.
Many businesses fail to address this type of threat as they remain to be in denial, but companies who are serious about securing the continuity of their operations should nip it in the bud before it even has the chance to take place and do damage.
Reason #9: The number of data breaches is increasing
According to PWC’s The Global State of Information Security Survey 2016, there were 38 percent more IT security incidents detected in 2015 than in 2014. This suggests that year after year, data breach technologies are also getting more and more complicated.
What companies need to do is to stay up-to-date with new methods and trends on how to ensure business continuity.
Reason #10: Change management can affect IT security
Change management can affect IT security risks and downtime. In a 2016 report by Cisco, researchers found that fewer small and medium business (29 percent) used standard business tools like patching and configuration to prevent data breaches in 2015 compared to 2014 (39 percent).
Having a disaster recovery practitioner on board can help ensure that despite changes in the organization, data security, and workplace safety remain as top priorities.
These are just ten of the reasons that prove every business should have a disaster recovery plan. Avoid all the possible consequences of not having one by protecting your business now.
