It’s 2024, and that means you either live in or will soon live in, a place that is prone to natural disasters. As human-driven climate change has continued to push global temperatures higher and higher, the geography, intensity, and frequency of natural disasters continue to expand.
From hurricanes and earthquakes to floods and wildfires, these events can wreak havoc on critical systems and data. That’s why you should take measures NOW to secure your business when it comes to facing natural threats to your operations.
Building a resilient IT infrastructure is not just a precaution; it’s a necessity for business continuity and survival in 2024. This guide will explore strategies and best practices for creating an IT infrastructure that can withstand and recover from natural disasters.
The Costs of Climate Change
Before diving into solutions, it’s crucial to understand the specific risks faced by businesses in disaster-prone areas. According to a report by the Federal Reserve Banks,, making it one of the costliest years in recent history.
These events included Hurricane Ida, a historic cold wave in Texas, and destructive wildfires in the West. The impact of natural disasters on businesses can be severe:
- 1 in 10 small employer businesses suffered losses from a natural disaster during a 12-month period, according to the 2021 Small Business Credit Survey.
These statistics underscore the importance of building a resilient IT infrastructure that can withstand and recover from natural disasters.
A Quick Example: 2024 Hurricane Season
The 2024 hurricane season has been insane, with Hurricanes Helene and Milton causing significant damage and disruption to businesses across multiple states. Entire cities – like Asheville, NC – have basically been wiped off the map. Obviously, if you operate a business in these areas, you know how stressful it has been to keep your business up and operational.
According to Goldman Sachs, the combined property damage from Hurricanes Helene and Milton is estimated at $90 billion, ranking as the fifth-worst hurricane event since World War II. The storms’ impact extended beyond physical damage, affecting nearly 10% of the U.S. population.
The economic consequences of these hurricanes are far-reaching:
- GDP Impact: Goldman Sachs predicts a 0.3-percentage-point reduction in fourth-quarter GDP growth due to the hurricanes.
- Employment: The storms are expected to result in a loss of 40,000-50,000 jobs in the October payroll report, with the unemployment rate potentially increasing by 0.05 percentage points.
- Supply Chain Disruptions: Businesses with supply chains dependent on affected coastal regions are experiencing delays and interruptions due to damaged infrastructure and power outages.
- Insurance Costs: The increasing frequency and severity of hurricanes are driving up insurance premiums for properties in vulnerable areas, adding to operational
Furthermore, a report from the US Federal Reserve Bank found the following economic impacts on the US at large:
- As of November 2023, the United States faces over $1 billion in losses from natural disaster events, according to Foster Fuels, a leading emergency fuel supplier.
- According to Forbes, 40% of businesses do not reopen following a disaster, with an additional 25% closing within a year.
- In 2021, the United States experienced $20 billion in losses due to natural disasters.
These recent hurricanes – and the bigger picture of our increasingly destructive weather patterns and events – serve as a stark reminder of the importance of building resilient IT infrastructure and implementing robust business continuity strategies – especially as we as a species watch as our planet heats up.
Key Components of a Resilient IT Infrastructure
1. Risk Assessment and Business Impact Analysis
The first step in building a resilient IT infrastructure is to conduct a thorough risk assessment and business impact analysis (BIA). This process helps identify potential threats and their impact on business operations.
Key considerations:
- Analyze all functional areas of the organization
- Evaluate risks and define suitable goals
- Determine geographical and infrastructure risk factors
2. Data Backup and Recovery
A robust data backup and recovery strategy is crucial for maintaining business continuity in the face of natural disasters.
Best practices:
- Implement the 3-2-1 backup rule: Keep three copies of data on two different media types, with one copy stored off-site
- Utilize cloud-based backup solutions for added redundancy
- Regularly test backup and recovery processes to ensure data integrity
3. Redundancy and High Availability
Implementing redundancy in critical systems and infrastructure components is essential for maintaining operations during and after a disaster.
Key strategies:
- Deploy redundant power supplies, including backup generators and uninterruptible power supplies (UPS)
- Implement redundant network connections from multiple providers
- Utilize load balancing and failover systems for critical applications
4. Cloud-Based Solutions
Leveraging cloud-based services can significantly enhance the resilience of your IT infrastructure. Cloud providers often have robust disaster recovery capabilities and geographically distributed data centers.
- Benefits of cloud-based disaster recovery:
- Scalability and flexibility
- Reduced need for on-premises infrastructure
- Faster recovery times
According to the experts at Spin.ai, a leading SaaS security provider, “Cloud-based solutions can be integrated into your overall DR strategy to provide flexible, scalable, and holistic recovery options. They can complement on-premises solutions and offer an additional layer of redundancy by automatically backing up and storing your data across a third-party vendor’s cloud servers with multiple geolocations.”
5. Disaster Recovery Planning
A comprehensive disaster recovery plan is crucial for ensuring business continuity in the event of a natural disaster.
Key elements of a disaster recovery plan:
- Clearly defined roles and responsibilities
- Step-by-step recovery procedures
- Regular testing and updates
As stated by the IT experts at CoreSite, a leading provider of data center and interconnection solutions, “Document the IT disaster recovery plan as part of the business continuity plan. Test the plan periodically to make sure that it works.”
6. Employee Training and Awareness
Ensuring that your staff is well-prepared to handle disaster scenarios is crucial for the successful implementation of your resilience strategy.
Training considerations:
- Regular disaster response drills
- Clear communication protocols
- Cross-training employees on critical systems
Advanced Strategies for Enhanced Resilience
1. Immutable Backups
Implementing immutable backups can provide an additional layer of protection against data loss and corruption.
Jon Toor from Cloudian advises: “Use immutable backups, especially to safeguard against ransomware attacks. These backups cannot be altered or deleted within a specified time frame, ensuring a clean recovery point.”
2. Geodiverse Backups
Replicating backups across multiple geographic locations can ensure data availability even in the event of a regional disaster.
Toor further recommends: “Instead of relying on one geographic location, replicate your backups across multiple regions to ensure data availability even in the event of a regional disaster like earthquakes or hurricanes.”
3. Advanced Threat Detection
Integrating cybersecurity monitoring tools into your disaster recovery process can help detect and mitigate potential threats during the recovery phase.
Toor emphasizes: “Integrate cybersecurity monitoring tools that detect threats during the disaster recovery process. This ensures that the restored environment is not compromised by latent threats that may have caused the disaster in the first place.”
The Role of Colocation Facilities
Colocation facilities can play a crucial role in enhancing IT infrastructure resilience, especially in disaster-prone areas. According to TechTarget, colocation is the practice of housing privately owned servers and networking equipment in a third-party data center.
Benefits of colocation:
- Purpose-built facilities with robust physical security
- Redundant power and cooling systems
- Access to multiple network providers
Conclusion
Building a resilient IT infrastructure in natural disaster-prone areas requires a comprehensive approach that encompasses risk assessment, robust backup strategies, redundancy, cloud solutions, and thorough disaster recovery planning.
By implementing these strategies and continuously refining your approach, you can significantly enhance your organization’s ability to withstand and recover from natural disasters.
Remember, as Colin Powell once said, “Leadership is solving problems. The day soldiers stop bringing you their problems is the day you have stopped leading them.” In the context of IT resilience, this means staying proactive, continuously assessing risks, and adapting your strategies to meet evolving challenges.
By prioritizing IT resilience, businesses can not only survive but thrive in the face of natural disasters, ensuring continuity of operations and maintaining a competitive edge in an increasingly unpredictable world.