How to Make Sure Your Disaster Recovery Plan Isn’t a Total Disaster
Disaster recovery plans are a lot like retirement plans. You might have one, you might not, but you’re probably not sure whether it’s any good.
Luckily, there are a few tell-tale signs that your disaster recovery plan might be a total disaster and many ways that Stoneridge Software can help you get back on track.
Does it take too long to get back online?
The first one is that it will take longer to come back online than you can afford to be offline. The basic math of the situation is, is that for every minute you're offline, you're losing a little bit of revenue. And it doesn't take long for that amount to get beyond the cost of what a decent backup and disaster recovery plan would cost you. So, if the math doesn't come out in your favor it’s time to think about changing the plan.
Can you recover ALL necessary data?
Second, are you backing up all the necessary data? Now everybody thinks about inventory, the accounting system, and other big rocks, but what about the smaller devices that contain important operational data? Things like POS systems or field laptops used by crews working at remote sites? They all have valuable data but don’t make it onto a lot of disaster recovery plans.
Have you tested your plan recently?
When was the last time you tested your recovery system? Because if the day you plan to test it is the day you need it, you've got a problem. I can't tell you how many times we've been into places that thought they had a plan but something changed or didn't work as expected, so when they wanted to bring themselves back online they just couldn't.
Can you find it when you need it?
Finally, where are your disaster recovery procedures documented? Did you write them to your old IT company? Did you write them with one of your old IT managers who's now moved on to the competition? Do you have them stored on the computer that's going to die when your system goes down? In any of those situations you've got a plan - which is fantastic - but you're not going to be able to find it when you need it. So it's just like not having one, to begin with.
Those are a couple of the tell-tale signs that you might have a poor disaster recovery plan, and it might be time to put yourself in a better position so you can keep your data protected,
Questions?
Please reach out to us! Our Managed Services team is ready to help you protect yourself.
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