There have been two events in the last five years that have brought the term Disaster Recovery Planning into the realm of small business awareness: September 11th, and Hurricane Katrina. According to Hartford Insurance, over 40% of businesses who experience some type of major disaster (fire, flood, break-in, storm, etc) without some type of disaster plan end up going out of business.
For some firms, disaster recovery planning means a substantial volume of checklists, tactics, and strategies after several meetings and rehearsals. For others, it’s a simple page of notes and ideas yet to be fully formulated, but better than nothing.
There is a theme running through both versions in a very simplified form: preparation and recovery.
Preparation includes planning to bullet-proof the system as much as possible and affordable as soon as possible. It also includes understanding the different types of disasters with the potential to affect your firm.
Recovery is just what it sounds like. It’s the most immediate path to getting the system back online with all, or as much, information in tact. There are many issues with recovery which require a great deal of time and expertise.
Disaster recovery planning can be difficult and, seemingly, expensive. However, compared to having no idea how to respond to an actual disaster may be exponentially more difficult and more expensive without a disaster recovery plan.
For the purposes of this brief introduction to disaster recovery planning, please take one moment and ask yourself one simple question. Do I know that a current (not more than one day old) backup of ALL of my critical business data is in a safe place on a restorable medium, not on the premises of my business? If the answer is no, please contact a Responsive consultant in either our Chicago office or our office in Oswego, Illinois. Consultants can be reached using our toll-free number, 866-767-8300. |
