In this day and age, most people already know how valuable data is. Especially with the advent of the internet, some companies can rely solely on data alone. Thus, it is important to protect data at all costs.
There are different ways to prevent data loss in the first place but a disaster preparedness plan is essential. For most people, data stored in their computers can simply be personal or for their work. While data loss on this level can already be disastrous enough, imagine how much worse data loss is for a commercial organization such as a company.
Indeed, disaster recovery truly matters, and here are just some examples of why that is.
What is Disaster Recovery Anyway?
There are common factors that can lead to data loss and there are ways to minimize the risks or even totally prevent them. However, there isn’t really a way to prevent disasters from occurring.
These can be natural disasters such as earthquakes, hurricanes, fires, lightning storms, and more. There are also some disasters that can occur that aren’t really mother nature’s fault.
Aside from nature’s wrath, a company’s IT infrastructure can also be vulnerable to cybercrime and security breaches. The bottom line is that simply put: the worst can happen and the best thing to do is be prepared for it. Prevention is better than a cure but it’s also good to have a cure in hand when prevention fails.
This is where a disaster recovery plan comes in. A disaster recovery plan is simply a set of protocols that will be followed for specific situations that will help minimize damages and loss for data centers.
A disaster recovery plan is exactly what a data center and a business need to know what to do in case something bad happens. With a disaster recovery plan, a business would have a general idea how long it would take for data centers to resume services to the business’ customers after an unexpected disaster occurs.
Unexpected situations that disaster recovery plans usually cover include application failure, communication failure, data center disaster, building disaster, campus disaster, citywide disaster, regional disaster, national disaster, and even multinational disaster.
Why Disaster Recovery Matters
Disaster recovery matters because it stands between an operational business and an inoperational one. It is often said that the value of a disaster recovery plan is equal to the value of the data itself.
Can the business run without its data? How long can it afford to be inoperational? These are just some things that a disaster recovery plan can help businesses be prepared for.
Data is Important
Can a business really afford to lose its data? Even simple records that are stored in data centers can be extremely valuable. Of course, backups should exist and important information should never be stored in a single space. However, data stored in private servers are still extremely valuable. Small businesses might not feel the same effect of losing data but large businesses can be significantly affected.
Imagine if a disaster occurs that would potentially wipe a company’s stored data. Important files such as legal documents and government correspondences could be gone.
Client records that help them earn their money could be lost in an instant.
A disaster recovery plan is exactly how it sounds – it’s a plan that would help businesses respond to certain situations accordingly that can help them minimize loss. In this age, data is gold and companies should do all that they can to protect it.
The Barrier to Entry Can be Low
Some people might think disaster recovery plans are difficult to do because of how technical they can be. That is both correct and incorrect at the same time. Although computer science and the IT field, in general, can be pretty technical and confusing, the overall concept of disaster recovery is not rooted in technology – it is a concept of preparedness.
Furthermore, the steps needed to take towards a disaster recovery plan are not even that high. For example, just having extra hard drives to store highly important data is already a step in the right direction as having backups of data can help prevent a total loss.
Some companies can go as far as having backups made very regularly. However, even a backup every once in a while is better than nothing at all.
Companies nowadays even have so many options to choose from when it comes to factors to put in place for their disaster recovery. With the advancement of technology, data can even be stored in the cloud – a sort of virtual server that can be accessed online. This is very convenient compared to the usual way of data transfer that involves physical components.
Data centers are also pretty well equipped with features that can already check some things off the list for disaster recovery. Other factors to consider when it comes to disaster recovery include budget, insurance coverage, resources, management’s position on risk, technology, data, suppliers, and compliance requirements.
Conclusion
Disaster recovery might not be the top priority of many companies because it costs them resources to be prepared for something that might never happen. It’s like a sort of insurance that way. However, these are simply things that people would rather have and need than need and not have.
While it can indeed cost companies to go the extra mile and have a disaster recovery plan in place, they would truly be thankful they did in the event that they would actually use it. The worst situation would be when companies would have to learn about the importance of disaster recovery too late.
