A gloomy hypothesis

To test out our gloomy hypothesis, try searching on Google for the worst things that can happen to a business and recent disasters. One of the most recent examples we found was a 'devastating' fire at the Head office of a baby gifts business in Northampton. Do you think those terrible floods in Europe bypassed local businesses?

Then, there’s the ever-present threat of cybercrime. According to the Government’s Cyber Security Breaches Survey 2021 in the past 12 months four in every ten businesses have experienced a substantial data loss. A quarter of all charities have faced a similar disaster. Let’s just consider this too, data loss is the biggest killer of companies. Estimates suggest a horrifying 60% of small and medium-sized businesses fold within six months of a major data breach or cyber crime attack.

Even the big names are not immune. The mighty Facebook found itself on the receiving end of a $5 billion fine in 2019, due to privacy lapses. Clearly, there's no room for complacency!

93%

93% of companies without a Disaster Recovery Plan who suffer a major data disaster are out of business within one year.

96%

96% of companies with a trusted backup and disaster recovery plan were able to survive ransomware attacks.

50%

More than 50% of companies experienced a downtime event in the past five years that longer than a full workday.

90%

90% of businesses without a disaster recovery plan will fail after a disaster, thus demonstrating how important it is to act now.

How to build a disaster recovery plan.

Contemporary organisations rely on the availability of massive amounts of data, and access to software that’s bespoke to their needs. Meaning the biggest disaster you will face as a company will always be having those resources unavailable for any length of time – or worse still wiped out entirely.

This is why step one is to understand what Cloud disaster recovery (Cloud DR) means.

In a nutshell, you can protect your business if you use a tailormade combination of services and strategies to place your operations in the Cloud.

This would include things like regularly backing up your data into Cloud storage, and using the services of a Cloud tech firm to provide extra layers of cybersecurity.

It couldn’t be more obvious really. If you have migrated to the Cloud, and the worse does happen, you can have all your essential business information and systems back online swiftly, and securely. Your Cloud provider makes it incredibly easy to avoid severe (and potentially catastrophic) business interruption.

One of the advantages of Cloud Disaster Recovery strategies are that they still work even if the disaster you encounter is not confined to your business premises. For example, say you are using a local server to hold your business systems and data, but it’s THAT building that suffers a fire, flood or major tech malfunction. You lose everything.

Using Cloud Disaster Recovery protocols avoids such risks.



Also, having a second data centre can prove costly, compared to finding a Cloud DR provider who is accessible and ready to respond 24 hours a day.

Options within Cloud Disaster Recovery plans

The above is a general overview of how the Cloud can save your business.  This is such an advanced area of technology, that Cloud DR services are now structured to match your business needs specifically. You can vary the support you get along various parameters, such as whether you want your virtual operating systems on ‘standby’ or permanently working in tandem with your physical devices. Also, do you also want VoIP technology, so you can continue to make phone calls when your landlines are out of action?

To set up this Disaster Recovery service to the level you want, there are things you need to ask a Cloud DR provider. First, what is their proposal to support your business recovery and health? Also, what are the costs and how would their service be administered? What software do they recommend, and on what basis? Keep in mind that timing is everything, so how quickly could they have your critical business systems fully operational? Also, look for a Cloud DR specialist who provides a good level of continuous IT support, and who talks to you in plain English!