Is your business protected from IT disasters and data loss? Most companies aren’t, and there is a simple reason why. With all due respect to insurance adjusters, nobody likes to think about worst-case scenarios. It’s much easier to imagine everything will be okay and there aren’t any risks than it is to spend time (and possibly money) preparing for something that doesn’t seem like a pressing problem.
While that type of thinking might fit perfectly with natural human procrastination tendencies, it isn’t going to do any favors for your business. That’s because IT disasters usually don’t occur in the way you expect them to. In fact, when considering whether you can put off good data backup and recovery planning, here are a few things you should probably keep in mind…
Many IT Disasters Look Like Everyday Events
Within the IT industry, the practice of planning for things like disc failures and lost files is referred to as backup and disaster recovery. Unfortunately, that term can give clients the wrong idea.
That’s because most IT “disasters” are really just everyday events. Things like power surges, lightning strikes, and glitches caused by faulty wiring can all destroy a server or workstation. Fires, floods, and earthquakes certainly do their share of damage, but so do thefts, acts of vandalism, and everyday employee errors. The point is that it doesn’t take an act of God to wipe out your technology, just a single stroke of bad luck.
A Relatively Small “Disaster” Can Put You Out of Business
Want to find out just how dependent your company is on your hardware, software, or data? Go a few hours or days without any of them and you’ll find out.
Losing access to your technology – or having it not work correctly – can literally put you out of business in a very short period of time. The minute you can’t access things like accounts receivable data or customer records, you stop making money. Lose proprietary information and it might not be replaceable. What seems like a small loss, at first, can turn into a permanent setback… or even a company-killing mistake.
There are Two Ways to Think About Disaster and Data Recovery
Given that the stakes involved in backup and disaster recovery are so high, and accidents are more common than business leaders tend to think, we see two situations play out again and again.
In the first, a business owner or executive takes the time to do some careful disaster planning even though he or she might not think it’s really necessary. Then, they are pleasantly surprised to see how easy it is to recover from the setback. In the second scenario, these activities and investments are put off for too long. Once something does happen, that causes data or a specific piece of technology to become inaccessible, the situation can’t be easily resolved.
Your Business May be More Vulnerable Than You Think
Put all of these realizations together and it’s easy to see why your company might be a lot more vulnerable than you imagined. At the same time, the tools needed to mitigate these risks are simpler and more cost-effective than you might think. A good offsite Cloud storage backup system won’t put much of a dent in your IT budget, but it could be invaluable when you actually need it.
Over the years, we’ve seen firsthand that IT disasters and data loss events often seem to come “out of nowhere.” Business owners and executives frequently don’t anticipate them until it’s much, much too late. It doesn’t take a lot of time or money to adequately prepare your business for the inevitable, and an ounce of prevention could end up saving your company when it matters most.
Why not call us today to schedule a meeting and see how easy it is to protect your data and technology? The next catastrophe might be closer than you think, but we can help you stay protected.