In a recent survey of small businesses owners, only 13% of respondents thought they could be hit by a disaster resulting in data loss. That means 87% of small businesses believe their IT infrastructure has multiple redundancies, or just that nothing bad will ever happen.
What Do You Know About Disaster Recovery?
65% of small business owners think that a disaster that put them out of commission for a day would cost less than $500. The reality is that 40% of small businesses will never reopen.
Short of moving your office into a structurally reinforced cave, you can prepare your business for disaster by having a realistic plan that meets your budget. Here are the three fundamentals that need to be covered with your disaster plan:
Action Plan
Keep a hard copy of all emergency contact numbers in a safe place that is easily accessible to personnel who require access. Include the emergency contact information for every employee, along with instructions about what they should do in the event of each kind of disaster. Update this emergency contact list on a regular basis. Keep several copies offsite in case the building is destroyed or inaccessible.
Secondary Location/ Backup Site
If your office becomes inaccessible, you will need a backup location in order to maintain critical operations. Plan for a secondary location, and arrange with your IT provider to set you up in a temporary functional office. Even if you are temporarily running your business out of a warehouse, it’s better than not being able to communicate with customers and vendors.
Having a contingency plan in place will make it easier to get your business up and running again quickly. Once disaster hits, everything becomes ten times as difficult.
Data Backup
Insurance will replace desks, chairs, and even computers, but it can’t rebuild data that’s not backed up. Think about the time it would take to rebuild all the content and information in your databases. Many businesses close after a disaster because it’s just plain cost-prohibitive. In a recent survey, 81% of small businesses identified data as their most valuable company asset.
At Quikteks, our business continuity and disaster recovery (BCDR) solution automatically backs up your data to a secure offsite data center. Our BCDR solutions recover your data, making your entire network available to you as soon as you power on the computers at your temporary location.
Need help putting together a business continuity plan? Call Quikteks at (973) 882-4644.