No business is immune to disaster. Whether the disaster comes in the form of a hurricane, cyber attack or power shortage, unexpected disasters can cause considerable amounts of damage to any company. Since companies cannot prevent disasters from occurring, they need to have some sort of plan in place to guarantee that they receive as little damage as possible.
While the idea of implementing a disaster-recovery plan may seem obvious, more than 60% of small businesses do not have a formal emergency plan in place and fail to backup important data off-site, leaving their business susceptible to data loss should a disaster strike.
A recent research study by Sage North America shows that while 94% of small businesses regularly backup their data, most of them do not store their data off-site. Storing data backups on-site puts companies at risk. Should a fire, earthquake, flood or other natural disaster destroy the office building, crucial data backups will also be destroyed, leaving the company without the important data it needs to successfully do business.
Data loss can significantly impact the operations and future of a company. In order to come out of a disaster as quickly as possible, companies need to develop an emergency-response plan that includes solutions for protecting critical data, such as storing backups off-site.
The study also found that 62% of small businesses do not have a formal plan for responding to an emergency or natural disaster. The most commonly cited reason for not having a formal response plan in place was the lack of disasters in the area. If a company is located in an area that is not prone to disasters, companies are less likely to be prepared.
Even if your company is located in a relatively disaster-free area, you still need to be prepared. Guarantee that your data is secure, by making sure that your plan thoroughly covers data backup. Determine how often you will backup your data. Will you backup important data daily, weekly or at least once a month? How long will it take to backup your data? Where will you store your backups? Will you store it both on-site and off-site?
Keep these questions in mind as you are developing your disaster-recovery plan. Make sure that your plan is unique to your business and addresses all of the areas that will make it possible for your company to bounce back from a disaster quickly.