Every business, whether big or small, needs a DR backup plan. Small businesses often over-look this as they think that they don’t need a DR backup plan immediately so they neglect the concept entirely.
What they do not know is that without a backup and DR plan their data is at risk to natural disasters, human error, and cyber-attack, etc.
Let’s take a look at all the reasons why a DR backup plan is necessary.
- Cyber-Threats
Cyber-threats, especially ransomware are increasing day by day. Any company without a DR backup plan is putting their data at risk. It only takes one click to compromise an entire system’s network and all the workstations, desktops, and servers connected to it. That’s how dangerous ransomware attacks and other cyber-threats have become.
If a business already has a DR backup plan set up, then in the event of a cyber- attack, users can easily recover their data in a matter of minutes without having to worry about paying the ransom.
- Natural Disasters
Natural disasters are another major reason to set up a DR backup plan. Whether it’s a flood, hurricane, earthquake or any other disaster, there is no way of stopping it. That implies that all physical servers, workstations and desktops, if not moved before the disaster strikes will be compromised; along with the data within them. And without a DR backup plan there is no way to recover it.
Another downside is downtime. In worse circumstances, a business can suffer downtime for months or even a year, and due to this many small businesses go out of business every year. Now let that sink in. All your hard work, gone. While a DR backup plan won’t prevent a natural disaster, it can certainly protect and can recover your data so that you can recover and access it in a remote location, even if your primary site is compromised. Cloud disaster recovery solutions are very necessary for your business to save your data from Natural Disasters.
This will ensure business continuity even in the event of a disaster.
- Human Error
According to the Inquirer, human error is the root cause of most data breaches and data loss. (Source)
Therefore, human error may sound harmless or insignificant but it really isn’t. It’s actually one of the main reasons why businesses need to have a backup and DR plan. Coffee spills, accidental deletion, etc. are the kind of human errors that have the appearance of a harmless mistake but have led to downtime affecting thousands of customers resulting in millions in losses.
- System Failure
Technology is not perfect. Hardware systems can fail at any time, regardless of how expensive they are. Upon failure, users aren’t able to access their data so a DR Backup plan tells them what to do in such situations. And it helps them to minimize the time it takes to get their systems back online; which happens to be a big deal in a lot of cases.
- Safety of Data
Lastly, a pretty obvious reason is that it keeps the company’s data safe. Businesses have always been about building trust and DR backup plans can help with that.
A company or person is more likely to do business with an organization or company that have a sure-fire way of securing important and sometimes sensitive data; as compared to an organization that doesn’t have a way to do so.
Conclusion
The global threat landscape is continuously evolving and changing. It’s almost impossible to prevent every single attack that targets important business data. But backup and DR plans provide users the ability to recover from basically anything.
If you’re into medical analogies, then one can relate backup and DR plans to be the “cure for everything”. It won’t stop the disease but it will definitely cure it.